After a lot of speculation, the Los Angeles Lakers have finally agreed to sign veteran forward Antawn Jamison to a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum. Even though there have been doubts about which direction the Lakers would be going in during the off-season with all the talk of a blockbuster trade for Dwight Howard, Los Angeles made the right decision to sign arguably one of the best free agents left available.

Along with seriously upgrading the bench with the addition of Jamison, the Lakers take on little risk in acquiring the 36-year-old forward. With Jamison agreeing to sign for the veteran’s minimum of $1.4 million, the Lakers aren’t investing much money in the forward and will be able to say goodbye to Jamison after this season if he doesn’t turn out to be the answer to the problems off the bench.

It’s a win-win situation for the Lakers and Jamison. Despite being 36-years-old, Jamison had his fair share of suitors with the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Bobcats expressing interest in signing him. Even though the Nets and Bobcats had the ability to pay Jamison much more money, the veteran forward elected to take less money to play for an NBA title contender.

The main motivator for Jamison, after becoming a free agent and having an impressive season with the Cleveland Cavaliers averaging 17.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, was winning an NBA title. The Nets also gave Jamison a great chance of winning a title before calling it quits, but once the Lakers land Steve Nash via sign-and-trade, Jamison was sold on Los Angeles as his best chance to win a title.

It remains to be seen whether or not Jamison still has something left in the tank in order to help the Lakers off the bench, but chances are he’ll help Los Angeles next season as the team’s sixth man.

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