The Lakers need reinforcements as soon as possible if they want to remain competitive this season. The team sits 19-19 as the 9th seed in the West, but that’s a big fall from expectations for a franchise many thought was a title contender. In the modern NBA, scoring is extremely important and the Lakers have been struggling to do precisely that for the last few seasons.
Even after their season-saving 2023 trade deadline, the Lakers’ offense was average at best with the team’s defense carrying them to the Western Conference Finals. This year’s offense is worse, ranking as the 24th-best offense after nearly half the season. This is majorly affecting their winning potential, especially with Anthony Davis playing like a DPOY. Hence, there are two trades the Lakers can make to breathe life into their offense for the second half of the season.
The first deal involves Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls. Â
Trade Details
Bulls Receive: Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, 2029 First-Round Pick (Lottery Protected)
Lakers Receive: Zach LaVine
This deal finally sees the Lakers land LaVine after being interested in a deal for the star since he allegedly was put on the trade block at the start of the season. Adding one scorer won’t be enough, as the Lakers could add another microwave scorer, one that LeBron James has a history with.
Jazz Receive: Rui Hachimura, 2025 Second-Round Pick (LAC)
Lakers Receive: Jordan Clarkson
Clarkson is out of place as an aging veteran on a young Jazz roster. While he has value to provide as a mentor and veteran, it’s time the Jazz let the former Sixth Man of the Year go to the team that drafted him for another chance to contend.
The Jazz Get A Young Piece For A Veteran
The Utah Jazz have done right by Jordan Clarkson, acquiring him to help the Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert duo contend in 2018. Even after the Jazz tore that squad down, Clarkson was kept around and given a contract extension worth three years and $55 million this summer despite not being a rebuilding piece. If they trade him now, Clarkson’s future is secured until 2025-26. Instead of holding out for a high bidder, the Jazz could move on from Clarkson by sending him to a favorable destination for a young piece.
Rui Hachimura is averaging 11.6 points and 3.6 rebounds this season, being a little out of place in Darvin Ham’s rotational plans. Even if he manages to see an increase in playing time, his iffy defensive output and streaky offensive output could be hard for the Lakers to reckon with. Christian Wood is showing his utility as a four-man next to Anthony Davis while Jarred Vanderbilt has already shown his capability in that role.Â
The Lakers have room on their roster to add a scorer of Clarkson’s caliber, especially with his improvement in playmaking with Utah. He’s a proper combo guard who has chemistry with LeBron and is known to be effective whether he’s a starter or the sixth man.Â
The Bulls Add A Long-Term Piece That Helps Them Win Now
The Bulls have shown that they will not be looking to tank and be an uncompetitive team, evidenced by the intensity the players have tried playing with in recent weeks. But even at its peak, this Bulls roster would likely be a first-round exit at best. If they do intend to continue competing for wins, they can move on from LaVine for a win-now piece like Austin Reaves, who is 25 years old.
Reaves is averaging 15.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists this season, clearly functioning as the Lakers’ third-best player behind LeBron and Anthony Davis. He’s a versatile combo guard who could share the backcourt with anyone, including Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu. He could even do it with D’Angelo Russell, as he’s proven before. Russell is averaging 14.6 points and 6.1 assists this season and could be a piece the Bulls can try and win with now or move instantly for additional assets.
The Bulls went 10-8 without LaVine over the last few months, showing that the team can succeed without the longtime Bulls star. It might be time to move on and if they can get Reaves in a deal like this, they would be mighty pleased with themselves.
The Lakers Add Bonafide Scorers
Being a traditional point guard on a LeBron-led team is a myth. No matter what position James plays, he’ll ultimately be the playmaker on the court. With James’ increasing age, that might be the one skill he can rely upon for all 48 minutes instead of bursts of domination whenever required. Giving him a scoring backcourt like Clarkson and LaVine would allow James to set the floor for two great off-ball scoring options that can create their offense whenever needed.
LaVine is averaging 20.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists this season, recently making a return from a lower-body injury. Clarkson is averaging 17.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, showing nice playmaking development over the season.Â
With scorers like that, LeBron and Davis can lock in on the defensive end, preferably with Vanderbilt as their third frontcourt piece to recreate the menacing defense from last season. LaVine and Clarkson aren’t good defenders, but they can shine within the Lakers’ defensive system if they play their roles like how D’Lo did last season. If you can’t outscore teams, success will always be something you chase and can’t achieve.
Scoring Also Wins Championships
The era where the Detroit Pistons could win NBA titles by holding teams to under 80 points is gone. This is a scorers NBA and the saying ‘defense wins championships’ doesn’t hold entirely true anymore. After all, the world tried saying that the Nuggets weren’t legitimate contenders because of their average defense last season before they blew the gate off the playoffs. Even though the Lakers were defending well in their sweep loss to the Nuggets in the 2023 playoffs, they couldn’t get more points than them when it mattered most.
LaVine and Clarkson inject scoring talent into the Lakers like they haven’t had in years. It will help lighten the load of the two stars, especially in the regular season as they’ve been expected to be two-way monsters every night to keep the Lakers within a fighting chance of winning games.
The Lakers did well in signing young players to affordable short-term contracts to keep their values high even if they have rough seasons. That decision could pay off with deals like this, but it could always backfire if both players underperform. At this point with how the Lakers season has gone, it might just be worth a shot.
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