Ramon Sessions Has Declined His Player Option

In an unsurprising move, Ramon Sessions has decided to forgo the final year of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent per Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. For Sessions, this move certainly isn't because he wants to leave the Lakers necessarily, but rather to acquire the security of a multi-year deal. If the Lakers are willing to do so, then there is no real danger in losing him, particularly since the Lakers invested too many resources into acquiring Sessions for him merely to be a rental. Of course, as we discussed yesterday, there are a few other targets the Lakers will be looking at in the free agent and trade market. Pulling a deal for say Deron Williams, unlikely as it might be, obviously precludes bringing Sessions back.

As such, this isn't going to get resolved anytime soon since the Lakers will understandably hold out so long as the possibility remains that they can obtain a better point guard than Sessions to fill his spot. Luckily for the Lakers, this applies to the rest of the free agent market as well. No one is going to give Sessions a long-term deal until the Williams saga has resolved, Steve Nash decides whether he wants to stay with Phoenix or chase a ring elsewhere, and perhaps a few other dominoes fall. The possibility that Sessions bolts early in the process and leaves the Lakers in the very unfortunate situation of having Steve Blake, Darius Morris, and Andrew Goudelock as their point guards is quite remote.

This is also the case because there aren't exactly a lot of other places Sessions can start, and none of his possible landing spots will provide the same kind of stage he enjoys in L.A. as Kobe Bryant's backcourt partner. So good money is on Sessions waiting and observing the flow of the market, and as a result, he will serve as the baseline at the point guard position for the Lakers next year. They will shoot for a better point to take Sessions' place, but they definitely will welcome him back should those efforts fail.

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