Last summer, the Lakers were hoping that the signing of Miami Heat guard Kendrick Nunn could boost their thing backcourt depth. Nunn showed some nice flashes in his first two NBA seasons, but a bone bruise in his knee prevented him from anything to the Lakers. The guard missed the entire season and largely due to missing the entire year, picked up his $5.25M player option for this coming season.
In a ESPN roundtable article, Nunn landed on a top ten list of impact players expected to come this coming season after missing most, if not all, of the 2021-2022 season.
Lakers beat writer Dave McMenamin provided some optimism about what Nunn can add to LA.
"Nunn could get the chance to be the change-of-pace combo guard L.A. thought it acquired in the first place. But we have to see how the Lakers' roster shakes out the rest of this summer to accurately project what type of role Nunn could reasonably fill."
McMenamin prefaced his optimism by noting that there's a very real possibility that Nunn could be included in a potential Lakers trade for either Pacers guard Buddy Hield or veteran Houston gunner Eric Gordon.
"Nunn exercised his player option for 2022-23, and if he's healthy and can replicate the type of production he showcased in Miami, he'll still be considered a bargain at $5.25 million."
At the moment, all indications are that Nunn will be ready to go for the Lakers training camp this fall.
On a team still somewhat lean on depth, and high on expectations, Nunn's return will go a long way towards a bounce back year for the Lakers.
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