Since Matt McMahon took the job back in 2022, the LSU Tigers have had a lot of roster turnover from year-to-year.

When he arrived, virtually every player on the roster left, leaving McMahon to use the transfer portal to build his first-year roster. Last offseason, LSU brought in freshmen Mike Williams III and Corey Chest and were able to be a bit more intentional in the portal after retaining a few key pieces such as Tyrell Ward, Jalen Reed and Trae Hannibal.

Now, heading into McMahon's third season as the head coach of LSU Men's Basketball, they're set to lose quite a few pieces that were key in winning nine conference games this season.

Since the season is over and we should start seeing some action in the transfer portal, I thought we could look at who's leaving, who's staying and some areas LSU could look to improve in the transfer portal.

Let's start with the departures.

There are four guys that 100% cannot return next season; Jordan Wright, Hunter Dean, Trae Hannibal and Will Baker. Combined, those four make up 38 points of offense, which is about 50% of the Tigers offensive production. We also saw Mwani Wilkinson, who played sparingly last season, enter his name into the transfer portal on Friday afternoon.

In basketball, everyone's eligible to leave for the draft after one season, so technically everyone on the team could declare for the draft or enter the transfer portal this offseason, but those four are the ones who are guaranteed to not return next year.

I would also expect Jalen Cook to enter the transfer portal after this season didn't exactly go as planned for the senior. He'll have one more year of eligibility whether he stays or leaves. If he leaves, that's another 15 PPG gone, though he only played in 13 games.

Like I said, everyone could leave for the draft or transfer portal, and while there will probably be a couple departures from the rest of the bunch, the Tigers could return as many as 10 players return in 2024.

Out of those 10, there are six that I think McMahon really needs to retain; Corey Chest, Mike Williams, Jalen Reed, Tyrell Ward, Derek Fountain and Daimion Collins.

Wiliams, Reed, Fountain and Ward all played big roles for the Tigers, averaging over 19 minutes per game this season, Collins showed a lot of promise and was a five-star recruit in 2021, but a shoulder injury ended his season early, and Chest is a very talented redshirt freshman.

The Tigers will also be adding two very talented freshman in Robert Miller and Curtis Givens III, both of whom are top-100 prospects in this year's class and will likely see the floor next season.

If the Tigers are able to retain all of those players mentioned above, they will be in need of some big men in the transfer portal.

Tt best they'd have four forwards who can play down low in Collins, Fountain, Miller and Reed (Ward is listed as a forward, but he doesn't play in the paint nearly as much as a typical forward). They also wouldn't have a single player listed as a center on their roster.

Luckily for them, the transfer portal is flooded with talent right now, and by not playing deep into the postseason, McMahon and his staff can start working on the transfer portal immediately.

One guy I think could make a lot of sense for the Tigers is UT-Chattanooga transfer Sam Alexis, who averaged 10.8 PPG and 9.1 REB while shooting 55% from the field last season. The big man wants to move to play against better competition, and LSU would provide him with the opportunity to play in the SEC.

I'm sure LSU will also look to add a guard or two in the portal as well, but their main priority needs to be adding a big man. There are plenty of options already in the portal, and I'm sure we'll see a lot more guys enter in the coming weeks.

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