Season Review: Jordan Goodwin
Jordan Goodwin went from a preseason cut to a playoff contributor for the Lakers this season, showing off his resiliency and tenacity.
Welcome to our annual Lakers season in review series, where we’ll look back at each player on the team’s roster this season and evaluate if they should be part of the future of the franchise. Today, we continue with a look at Jordan Goodwin.
After multiple seasons in and out of the league with part-time stints on different rosters across the league, Jordan Goodwin’s circuitous NBA path found its way to Los Angeles this season.
First signed on a training camp deal that saw him cut before the season began before being shepherded him the South Bay Lakers, and then later on a two-way contract that was ultimately converted into a standard NBA contract late in the year, Goodwin did an excellent job at making an impression with the franchise over the course of the year.
In fact, he made such an impression that he quickly became a trusted member of the team, exhausting his games played on his two-way deal with the team and, in the process, turning himself into a rotation fixture for JJ Redick.
Both down the stretch of the regular season in the fight for seeding and then in the playoffs, Goodwin showed he could contribute — particularly on defense and the backboards — and ultimately leapfrogged Dalton Knecht entirely and sometimes rivaling Gabe Vincent as the main perimeter bench player Redick would call on by the time the playoffs rolled around.
How did he play?
Hard. Jordan Goodwin played hard.
If there was a loose ball to be chased down, Goodwin was going to go all out to get there. If there was a rebound to be contested, Goodwin was going to be in the mix. If there was a lane to fill or a close out to make or an opposing player hunting a transition opportunity, Goodwin was going to race full speed to get into the right position.
And, ultimately, that’s why he stuck around and earned Redick’s trust. No, he didn’t make every shot he took nor was he perfect with where he was supposed to be or even what he was supposed to do on every single possession. But the level of effort and care factor he showed to do all that stuff correctly, and then hold himself accountable when he didn’t, was fantastic.
Statistically, none of the numbers he posted pop off the page when you just read them aloud — 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per night on 43% shooting and 38% from three in just under 19 minutes — but I’d argue his rebounding and general activity and nose for the ball that led to deflections, steals, and blocks was some of the best on the team, particularly for a backcourt player.
Goodwin’s 1.3 offensive rebounds per game were only surpassed by Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Jaxson Hayes on the season and his defensive rebounding and total rebounding rates were better than those posted by Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dalton Knecht, and Max Christie. Considering three of those players are naturally forwards and the other is considered a very good rebounding guard, I’d say Goodwin’s ability on the glass was a real value add for the team this season.
Also, during the playoffs, he was the only Laker who played at least 5 minutes to have a positive plus-minus, posting a +12 against Minnesota in their first round matchup. While this isn’t the end-all, be-all stat (especially considering he played just 31 minutes), it does reflect a level of team success in those limited minutes that the Lakers simply did not possess over the rest of the series when he was off the floor.
Overall, then, I’d consider Goodwin’s season a great success and his overall contributions to the team meaningful.
What is his contract situation moving forward?
Goodwin is under contract with a team option for the 2025-26 season, though his salary is non-guaranteed even if the team does pick it up.
By all intents and purposes, then, his longer-term future with the Lakers is still up in the air, with checkpoints around the end of June this year and a couple of months into the regular season serving as critical dates to determine if he’ll actually stick with the team.
Should he be back?
Though there are ways in which a non-guaranteed contract could come in useful via a trade before next year’s February deadline, I would like to see Goodwin return and to compete for playing time. He’s a multipurpose and versatile guard who has utility on both sides of the ball, plays extremely hard and got good seasoning as a one or two shift player during the playoffs.
I think throwing him into the competition for playing time cannot hurt, though, if I’m being completely honest, I’d love it if he were clearly beaten out for substantive minutes by someone who has a bit more natural talent offensively while still having the sort of defensive fight required to play a real role on a team with title aspirations.
That said, every team would love to have a player like Goodwin on their roster — someone who has a good attitude, competes hard, understands his asks on both sides of the ball, and works like hell to execute helps lift everyone else both in practice and in games. He’s good for morale and for the team’s competitive spirit, but also as someone who can absorb a shift and perform the job asked of him.
You can follow Darius on BlueSky at @forumbluegold.