In all likelihood, the Los Angeles Lakers will need to go out and sign reinforcements at the guard positions.
D’Angelo Russell, Dennis Schroder, Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV will be free agents, and there is almost zero chance that all will still be with the team next season. Backcourt depth was one of the Lakers’ relative strengths this year, and they will want to maintain that strength.
They will have the No. 17 and No. 47 picks in the upcoming draft, but they have also shown an ability to find the occasional gem who didn’t get drafted. One player they recently worked out who could fall into that category is Damion Baugh of Texas Christian University.
A look at Baugh
Baugh is a combo guard who stands 6 feet, 4 inches and weighs about 195 pounds. He has ample athleticism and likes to attack off the dribble in order to score or set up his teammates.
He averaged 12.6 points and 5.8 assists a game and shot a decent 47.3% on his 2-point attempts this past season for the Horned Frogs.
Defensively, he has potential, as evidenced by his 1.8 steals per game average during the 2022-23 season.
Two of Baugh’s big weaknesses seem to be outside shooting and ball security. Although he has improved his 3-point shooting over the past couple of years, he was at just 33% this past year. Additionally, he took just 3 attempts a contest from downtown.
He does tend to turn the ball over a bit. He averaged 2.8 turnovers per game in the 2022-23 campaign, although that was down from 3.3 a game the prior season.
Baugh is expected to go undrafted.
