The Lakers’ offseason began early this year after their first-round exit in the NBA Playoffs. Following the exit, the biggest question revolving around the Lakers is what comes next and how to build around their new franchise player, Luka Doncic.
According to the Lakers’ GM Rob Pelinka, the former Western Conference Finals MVP award winner will be at the center of what the team’s future looks like. They will look to add athletic wings and a center who is a lob threat in this offseason.
While they could be in the race for high-caliber players like Bam Adebayo and Jaren Jackson Jr, we suggest that the Lakers look at the Trail Blazers for a potential deal that brings Deandre Ayton, the former No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, to Los Angeles. Here’s what the potential trade package could look like:
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Dalton Knecht, Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Deandre Ayton
However, if the Lakers do pull the trigger on this, they would be making a very risky move. Ayton has been injury-prone throughout his career. Every second season with the Suns, he missed a significant amount of time due to injuries (2020, 2022, missed over 65 games combined in those seasons), and in the last two seasons he was with the Blazers, he missed 68 out of a potential 164 games in the seasons combined.
Secondly, the Lakers will almost certainly ensure that they are operating in the second apron if they bring Ayton on with this deal. Since LeBron James hasn’t decided on his player option yet, and Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic are both up for contract extensions.
Since letting four players go for the salary of one would mean three empty slots on the Lakers’ roster, they would have to fill those up as well. Therefore, it depends on how much the new ownership is willing to risk for the Lakers to get win-now pieces from the trade market. The benefit, however, would be that Ayton would be on an expiring contract, and they could convince him to eventually take less money in the extension as well.
The Blazers will have to waive three players to make room for these veterans on the roster, as well as the potential young star in Dalton Knecht. They could also decide to waive either of these expiring contracts as well, if they decide to retain their youth.
The key reason why the Blazers would do this trade is to get some long-range shooting from Dalton Knecht (37.6% from three). The Trail Blazers were ranked 23rd in the league last season for efficiency from beyond the arc, shooting 34.1% from range as a team.
Since Vanderbilt can play as a small-ball center as a replacement for Robert Williams, the most likely candidates to be waived would be Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber. Thus, allowing the Trail Blazers to make more room on their salary cap as well, leading to more financial flexibility in the future.
Why The Lakers Should Target Ayton
Deandre Ayton was the former No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft by the Suns. He is a reliable big who can average a double-double easily when he is healthy. He has a career average of 16.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game. He is a lob threat and a shot blocker, both of which the Lakers need.
He has been to the NBA Finals with the Suns in 2021; therefore also has experience in high-pressure situations. To retool around Luka Doncic, he is the perfect fit for the Lakers in terms of timeline (same age as Doncic), playing style (lob-threat and shot blocker), as well as experience in high-pressure situations. Other than his potential injury concerns (which the Lakers dealt with when they had Anthony Davis as well), I cannot think of a reason why the Lakers should not try to trade for him.
