ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins says that there’s no dispute that the Lakers won the offseason.
In fact, Perkins believes no other team has come close to having the offseason that Los Angeles has had. However, Perkins thinks there’s a bit more work to do to finish the job, including filling out the depth in the frontcourt, and he has just the candidate to do it: Dwight Howard.
“Absolutely, they killed it. A+ it,” Perkins said on NBA Today when describing the offseason for the Lakers. “…If they didn’t win it, who did? No one had a better offseason than the Los Angeles Lakers from what they started with a year ago. Now, do they need to finish it? Absolutely. And they need to go out and they need to either re-sign Tristan Thompson and bring him back or go out and get a guy that won the NBA championship for you…and I know he’s older, but it’s always great to have an adult in the room that’s gonna know his role in a guy like Dwight Howard.
“I feel like that would also be a perfect fit. But as far as Rob Pelinka, he did his thang, he did his thang.”
"Damn it, if they didn't win, who did? No one had a better offseason than the Los Angeles Lakers."
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 10, 2023
The offseason winner is clear for @KendrickPerkins 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/DZSM7B0XDM
Howard played this past season for the Taoyuan Leopards of the Taiwan-T1 League, where he averaged 23.2 points, 16.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He last appeared in the NBA during the 2021–22 season for the Lakers, where he played in 60 games, averaging 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds for Los Angeles.