The Los Angeles Lakers are a team that has been focused on building a competitive team surrounding LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They have re-vamped their roster this summer, focusing on adding more defensive-minded players to the team.
However, the team has not yet managed to trade point guard Russell Westbrook, who was viewed as a poor fit on the roster last season. Though they may not have a ton of good offers right now, NBA insider Dave McMenamin theorized that there may be more offers on the table once teams begin tanking for Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson.
The Lakers’ most optimistic outlook for Westbrook is that Ham will get through to him in a way that Vogel couldn’t, and the nine-time All-Star will have a bounce-back season with some better effort defensively and better discretion offensively. Ham closed out the preseason by bringing Westbrook off the bench, a lineup the Lakers will continue to explore during the regular season, sources told ESPN.
Another thought process, perhaps more realistic, is that more and more potential trade partners will open up as teams will be tantalized to join in the tankathon to get to the top of the 2023 NBA draft where a generational talent in Victor Wembanyama and a blue chip prospect in Scoot Henderson await.
There is no doubt that drafting Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson could be appealing for a lot of teams who are in the middle of the pack currently, and they could end up trading some valuable veterans away to try to lose as many games as possible. That is where the Lakers could potentially get some fantastic deals, and use their highly valuable picks alongside Russell Westbrook’s expiring contract in a manner that will make them true contenders.
The Los Angeles Lakers Will Only Trade Their Picks In The Right Deal
Though many fans would likely want to see the Los Angeles Lakers make a trade as soon as possible, there is sometimes value in waiting. Rob Pelinka previously explained why the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t moved their draft picks, noting that it has to be “the right deal” as they only have one shot of making a trade to become a contender.
“But we’re not going to just make a move to make a move. As it’s been widely discussed in the media, we know we can trade the 27th first and the 29th first, but you only get one shot to do that because of the Stepien rule we don’t have other picks we can put into a deal.
“So it’s got to be the right deal. Sometimes the hardest thing to do as a GM is to say no to a wrong deal because there’s a lot of pressure ‘Oh you got do something, you got to do something.’ But that can actually lead to a much worse situation.”
Rob Pelinka is right in saying that the Los Angeles Lakers need to wait for the right opportunity. One wrong trade could definitely affect the franchise very negatively going forward.
Hopefully, we see the Los Angeles Lakers find a suitable trade partner in the future. It remains to be seen what moves they make, but what’s obvious is their commitment to winning and putting the best possible roster together.
