Photo: Keith Birmingham Pasadena Star-News
Most of the Lakers’ offseason work appears complete. Almost. They still have not hired a head coach. They also have around four or five spots to fill out the rest of the roster.
So how will all of this play out?
The Lakers expect to name a head coach within the next week or two. But the Lakers will likely fill out their roster beforehand. That leaves the Lakers’ remaining free agents in Ryan Kelly, Xavier Henry and Wesley Johnson in varying states of limbo.
The Lakers expect to re-sign Kelly soon. They also like Henry, but it does not appear any deal is imminent. And the Lakers remain mixed on Johnson, who is not considered a priority.
After the Lakers selected him with the 48th pick of the 2013 NBA draft, Kelly impressed the Lakers with his floor spacing, basketball IQ and shooting. All of those qualities contributed toward averaging eight points on 42.3 percent shooting and 33.8 percent from three-point range. The Lakers also granted Kelly a $1.1 million qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent, which gave them the right to match any offersheet he received. Kelly made $490,180 last season and would have likely only needed a slight raise to keep him.
The Lakers were impressed with Henry’s athleticism, aggressiveness and work ethic that contributed to him averaging 10 points per game last season. But Henry is still recovering from offseason surgery on his right knee and left wrist, injuries that kept him out for a combined 39 games. Henry said last month that he expects to heal by late July. Though the Lakers have not medically cleared him to train in all basketball activities, it remains unclear at which stage he has advanced in his recovery. Last month, Henry performed a series of individual basketball drills only using his right hand.
Meanwhile, it appears unlikely the Lakers would re-sign Johnson, whose 9.1 points per game average on 42.6 percent shooting featured inconsistent offensive and defensive performances. The Lakers have not ruled out bringing back Johnson, but it seems more likely they would look to see who on the open market would sign to a veteran’s minimum deal.
One option could entail picking up Carlos Boozer, whom the Chicago Bulls waived on Tuesday via the amnesty provision. But it is not clear if the Lakers would submit a bid.
The Lakers have already used $59 million of their $63.1 million salary cap toward Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Robert Sacre, Jeremy Lin, Nick Young and Jordan Hill. The Lakers are also expected to sign guards Kendall Marshall and Jordan Clarkson, both of whom have non-guaranteed deals.
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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com