The Los Angeles Lakers stand over halfway through July with a roster that doesn’t instill any confidence in the fanbase that they can compete for an NBA championship. The Lakers need to make more moves to round out their roster and have a chance to compete atop the Western Conference as LeBron James enters his 20th season.
The Lakers have been focused on trying to acquire Kyrie Irving from Brooklyn, but with the slow movement on that deal, it may be time for the Lakers to go down other avenues to improve their team.
There are players around the league the Lakers could try and acquire for the right package. While they may not be big names like Kyrie, they can further help round this Lakers roster out. Adrian Wojnarowski expects LA to go look for these options soon.
"I think the Lakers will make a deal, maybe more than one deal. It may not be for Kyrie Irving, it may not be for an All-NBA player, an All-Star… It's not completely dead with Brooklyn… I don't think the Lakers are done."
🗣️ @wojespnpic.twitter.com/u4YAthd6EL
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 18, 2022
“I think the Lakers will make a deal, maybe more than one deal. It may not be for Kyrie Irving, it may not be for an All-NBA player, an All-Star, but players like Eric Gordon in Houston, and Buddy Hield in Indiana… It’s not completely dead with Brooklyn, but so much depends on what happens with Kevin Durant. The Nets are more focused on trying to find a deal for KD before they’d move Kyrie Irving.”
“I don’t think the Lakers are done. They are trying to find deals that allow them to improve without gassing all of their assets.”
Adding shooters like Gordon or Hield would be a major get for the Lakers as they have sorely missed reliable shooters the last couple of seasons. They need to make defensive additions to the team as well, so possibly getting Patrick Beverley could help on that front.
It will be hard for the Lakers to improve without using a first-round pick in a trade, so the team needs to make a decision soon, or some of these players may start being moved to other teams.
