The Los Angeles Lakers, despite having a decent start to the season, need to make improvements to their roster. As presently constructed, they don’t have the team to compete for the NBA championship. And it appears the Lakers’ front office agrees, as Michael Scotto of HoopsHype is reporting that the Lakers are putting D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachumura, and Gabe Vincent on the trade market.
“NBA executives who spoke with HoopsHype believe two future Lakers first-round draft picks in 2029 and 2031 are the team’s most coveted trade assets, given the Stepien Rule. The Lakers can trade two unprotected first-round picks and three swaps overall. In addition to those draft picks, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and Gabe Vincent will be discussed on the trade market.”
Of the three players, Rui Hachimura’s name popping up is perhaps the most surprising. Hachimura, for all his struggles, has been one of the better players for the Lakers consistently since his arrival in 2023.
Since joining the team, he’s averaging 12.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.4 blocks on 51/40/74 shooting splits. At $17 million a year, till the 2025-26 NBA season, Hachimura is an attractive option for any team.
D’Angelo Russell has been poor to start the season and lost his role as a starter after just a few games.
For the season, Russell has averaged 12.1 points, 4.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game while shooting 40.5% from the field, 30.6% from three, and 86.8% from the free-throw line. Russell makes $18 million this season and becomes a free agent next year. Any rebuilding team could add him through a trade and then negotiate a smaller contract with him if they want to keep him around.
Gabe Vincent is perhaps the most expected name on this list. Vincent has been absolutely abysmal to start the season.
Coming off the bench, Vincent looks like a shell of himself, averaging 3.2 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game, while shooting a horrid 34.7% from the field, 23.9% from the three-point line, and 33.3% from the stripe. While his $11 million contract that runs till 2025-26 is an attractive prospect for teams, his numbers barely justify the money he is making.
Who Will Take These Three Lakers Stars?
Given how poorly Russell and Vincent have been playing, it is hard to see how any other team will take them. Perhaps a fledgling team that doesn’t intend to compete and wants to get their decent performers off the books to maximize their capital could take them. Teams like the Wizards, Nets, and Jazz, could be willing to take on these underperforming stars.
As for Hachimura, the Lakers will be able to land some decent offers or even attach him to some trade packages for better players going forward. Perhaps a switch to land a similar wing like Cameron Johnson could be the best use of Hachimura as a trade asset. However, it appears the Lakers are hesitant to do that.
Cameron Johnson isn’t the only target the Lakers have. The Lakers are in the market for a big man and have identified Jonas Valanciunas, Nikola Vucevic, Kessler Edwards, Robert Williams III, and Nic Claxton as potential targets. Four of those five players are available to be traded after December 15th.
But there is no doubt, that the Lakers are going to have to change their approach when negotiating trades. For far too long, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka has been adamant about not trading away the team’s first-round draft picks. It is clear that if the Lakers want to land better players, they must give up their draft picks in trades.
Holding on to those draft picks makes no sense right now, anyway. Thanks to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers are rarely one of the top teams in the NBA Draft Lottery and don’t even land a high draft pick. So the Lakers can afford to give up their picks.
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