Lakers may regret letting Celtics sign $22M former first-rounder after losing him to Boston

The Los Angeles Lakers might have the title of doing the most this offseason, but they still found a way to have more questions than answers. LA signed several new players to the roster and made some offseason trades for this season.

Future moves are still going to be made, as they need to let go of some players to get to the legal roster limit. The team is viewed as incomplete at the moment.

“I think there's plenty of time here before they have to make a decision. They do, I believe, still want to make some type of trade upgrade at the wing/forward spot after missing out on Jonathan Kuminga. I do think the Lakers are incomplete right now moving forward," Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer said.

However, the Lakers may have let a young free agent go without even trying to do anything for him. Former first-round pick Devin Carter signed with the Boston Celtics on Monday.

“The Boston Celtics and Devin Carter have agreed to a deal, league sources told hoopshype. Carter will compete for an NBA roster or two-way spot in camp. Carter averaged 8.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 18.4 minutes during 38 games for the Sacramento Kings last season," HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto wrote.

LA took a chance on Nick Smith Jr. last season and could have very well done the same with Carter. After all, he is very gifted on the defensive end. Lake Show Life’s Svyatoslav Rovenchuk believes this is one that the Lakers could end up regretting letting walk.

“Even so, the Celtics have proven capable of turning around the careers of young guys and morphing them into role players of late. Neemias Queta serves as the most recent example. If the Lakers watch that kind of transformation happen to Carter from a distance, there will be inevitable disappointment in not taking the risk themselves,” Rovenchuk wrote.

Carter just didn’t have a spot with the Atlanta Hawks, which is the reason he was cut. He is still a very capable player who can have a future in the NBA, and the Celtics are going to attempt to get him to show that.

Carter was on a $22 million rookie deal before being released. The Lakers could have taken a chance on Carter, which had a good possibility of working out, but they didn’t. As the season goes on, it will be one to monitor to see if they let a good one go to their Eastern Conference rival.

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