Yesterday, it was broken by Mark Stein of ESPN that free agent center Chris Kaman would be signing with the Los Angeles Lakers for one season:https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/354331853823549441
A few moments later, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne broke the news that Kaman would earn the Lakers' mini mid-level exception:
https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/354338603922493440
According to Fox Sports West, that's about $3.2 million.
Last season, Kaman played in 66 games for the Dallas Mavericks, starting 52 of them. In his time with Dallas, he recorded averages of about 11 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes of playing time.
Kaman, who stands 7-feet tall, will fill the hole created at the center position caused by the departure of Dwight Howard for the Lakers. While he won't record the numbers that we are accustomed to from Howard, Kaman will definitely help the purple-and-gold's frontcourt.
While most would think of Kaman serving as backup to Pau Gasol, that actually might not happen.
The idea is that the Lakers could slide Gasol over to power forward having Kaman to play center has been thrown around quite a bit over social media. While it's an interesting idea, it would force head coach Mike D'Antoni to insert a bigger line-up, something he doesn't necessarily have on his roster.
Kaman, who was drafted in 2003 by the Los Angeles Clippers, had very high expectations coming into the league. Three years after being drafted, he helped the Clippers reach the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
In 2011, he was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in part of the blockbuster Chris Paul trade. He only stayed with the Hornets for one season, which was injury-marred, as most of his career had been.
In the summer of 2012, he signed an $8 million contract for one season with the Dallas Mavericks to join former German national teammate and fellow countryman Dirk Nowitzki.
His time with Dallas was turbulent, starting with his immediate insertion into the starting lineup. That was followed by the amnesty of Brendan Haywood and trade of Ian Mahinmi.
Kaman is very excited about the opportunity. He took to Twitter to tell his fans:
https://twitter.com/ChrisKaman/status/354340952996978689
https://twitter.com/ChrisKaman/status/354341477121396736
