The Los Angeles Lakers were one of the most active teams in the trade deadline last season and this one doesn’t seem to be the exception for them. The 2020 NBA champions are still a good team but a lot of people think they need one or two more pieces to face the remainder of the season in the Western Conference.
One of the issues they need to address is the absence of Anthony Davis, the second-best player on the roster behind LeBron James. AD is dealing with an injury and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks. Moreover, it seems like they will have to add more players after Marc Gasol’s tenure didn’t go as the team expected it.
According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, that is the reason why the purple and gold turned their head to LaMarcus Aldridge.
“My early focus here has been on the Lakers,” Amick wrote. “Sources say they’re in the market for another big, in large part because the Marc Gasol experience hasn’t gone as well as hoped. And when you’re a reigning champion who sees all these other squads looking capable of stealing your crown, it’s never a bad idea to load up on options. But, first, we have to wait and see if this is going to be a trade or a buyout.
“Now if you want the best possible narrative here — and we all know us scribes love our narratives — I’d love it if LMA went back to Portland. The split between Aldridge and Damian Lillard so many years ago was really unnecessary, with the old head at the time (Aldridge) coming off as a bit territorial as the young star (Lillard) began his rise. But they’ve mended fences in a major way since then, and the [Portland Trail] Blazers are another team that needs help up front because of injuries. It would be a wonderful storyline to be sure.”
When Gasol signed with the Lakers, everybody thought they had landed the key figure for their back-to-back title but he hasn’t looked like that. The Spanish big man has struggled to get things going in LA and everybody wants him out of the team.
He’s averaging just 4.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 20.1 minutes per game with the 17-time NBA champions this season, making things very hard for him and the rest of the squad. The Lakers have been linked with Aldridge but also with Andre Drummond and DeMarcus Cousins, who look as a better option than the San Antonio Spurs player.
