The trade deadline is coming fast. That’s why everything around the Los Angeles Lakers feels like one long internal argument right now.
Keep the books clean for future cap space, or take a swing to fix the obvious holes before April with a defensive wing that can help win games. And if we’re being real, this front office keeps acting like the summer matters almost as much as the postseason.
That’s exactly why The Athletic’s Dan Woike floated a Bulls mock trade the Lakers should probably avoid. It looks tidy. It sounds like “two-way help.” But it drags the Lakers straight into the cap-space nightmare they’ve been trying to dodge.
The Trade
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Patrick Williams, Ayo Dosunmu
Chicago Bulls Receive: Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent
In the proposed framework, the Lakers would receive Patrick Williams and Ayo Dosunmu, while the Bulls would take back Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent.
On the surface, you can see what the appeal is supposed to be: the Lakers add a younger wing and a guard who can actually pressure the ball and handle some creation, while the Bulls pivot off longer-term money and reshape their rotation with a bigger scoring wing.
The salary math is the real headline here. Rui Hachimura is at $18.2 million and Gabe Vincent is at $11.5 million this season, while Patrick Williams makes $18.0 million and Ayo Dosunmu makes $7.52 million.
Stat-wise, Hachimura is giving the Lakers 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and he’s hitting 42.6% from three. Vincent sits at 5.0 points and 1.3 assists, Williams is at 6.5 points and 39.7% from three, and Dosunmu has popped to 14.6 points and 3.6 assists while shooting 46.1% from three.
Why The Lakers Avoid This
The Athletic’s logic is basically a warning label: this trade messes with the Lakers’ future cap space plan, and that’s the whole point. Williams looks like a 3-and-D wing, but he doesn’t consistently play like one.
He ends up guarding bigger players because he doesn’t have the foot speed to stay attached to quick wings, and he doesn’t shoot enough to scare defenses. Add the multi-year contract, and you’ve got a commitment the Lakers would have to truly believe in. The Athletic basically says, yeah, that’s hard to imagine.
Then there’s Dosunmu. The Athletic view is pretty simple: he helps, but he’s headed to unrestricted free agency, and he’s going to want a raise around the mid-level range. Plus, other teams could beat this “no picks included” framework by attaching draft capital for him. And there’s the classic free agent trade dilemma: why pay real assets now when you can just try to sign the guy in the summer?
Now my take, and I’m going to be blunt.
This is the kind of trade fans talk themselves into because it feels like you’re getting two pieces while not giving up a first. That’s the trap. The Lakers don’t just trade Rui and Gabe here, they trade their flexibility, their optionality, and their ability to pivot when the real star market opens.
Williams is the swing factor, and I don’t buy it. A lot of people still talk about him like he’s one system tweak away from being a playoff wing stopper. But if you’re watching the way teams attack the Lakers, they don’t need theoretical wings.
They need real, reliable perimeter defense that can survive screens and keep ball handlers out of the paint. Williams guarding bigs because he can’t slide is not some small detail, it’s the entire problem. If he can’t consistently stay in front, you’re paying $18 million a year for a guy who becomes matchup-dependent in the postseason.
And yeah, he hits threes at 39.7%. Cool. But volume matters. The Lakers already live in a world where defenses ignore certain guys, shrink the floor, and dare them to play in a phone booth. If Williams is “technically” a shooter who doesn’t let it fly, nothing changes.
Dosunmu is the part I actually like. He’s at 14.6 points with 3.6 assists on 51.8% shooting and a wild 46.1% from three. That’s not fake production. That’s a real breakout.
But that’s also why I think the price doesn’t stay “Rui and Gabe.” Once multiple teams smell a guard having a career year on an expiring $7.5 million deal, the bidding shifts.
And here’s the thing nobody wants to say out loud: if Dosunmu is your “deadline fixer,” you’re still not a title favorite. You’re just less fragile. That’s fine, but then the Lakers need to ask themselves what they’re really buying.
Because if you end up paying the Williams contract as the hidden fee to get Dosunmu, you better be sure you’re not stuck holding the bag when you want to chase something bigger, like an Austin Reaves extension, or a Nikola Jokic free agency in 2027-28.
So yeah, I get why The Athletic calls it unlikely. I’m with them. The Lakers should avoid any deal where the “real cost” is years of salary commitment for a player you’re hoping to unlock.
Why The Bulls Would Do It
This is where it gets interesting, because the Bulls’ incentives are totally different.
If you’re the Bulls, this trade screams flexibility. You’re swapping Williams’ longer-term money for two contracts that are easier to move. Rui is a productive wing who can score, hit threes, and give you size without needing plays run for him. He’s at 12.1 points and shooting 42.9% from three, that plays on basically any roster.
Vincent is the other half of the equation, and his value to the Bulls is less about “he’s going to be our guy” and more about “he’s a tool.” At $11.5 million, that’s a clean mid-size contract you can reroute or let expire in the summer. And if you’re pivoting toward asset plays, that kind of money slot matters.
Now let’s talk about Williams from the Bulls’ point of view. The Bulls already know what he is. They see him every day. If they’ve decided the “next leap” isn’t coming, then the smartest move is to cash out before the league stops caring entirely.
And I’m not saying Williams is trash. I’m saying the league values archetypes, and “former top pick wing with 3-and-D potential” still sells, even when the tape is messy. The bigger question is Dosunmu.
The Athletic point that matters most is this: they don’t believe the Bulls are trading him until it actually happens, because the Bulls clearly value him.
And that’s the reason this deal feels like fiction. If Dosunmu is truly valued internally, the Bulls can just keep him and pay him. Or they can shop him for a deal that includes draft capital, because an expiring guard playing this well will have a market.
But here’s how the Bulls could justify it anyway.
If they’re not convinced they can keep Dosunmu at a number they like, they might prefer to get something tangible now, even if it’s not picks. Rui has real basketball utility, and he would instantly become one of their better wings. Plus, if you flip Rui later, you might still get some kind of draft compensation from a contender who needs scoring size. That’s the “two-step” plan teams run all the time.
Also, Rui’s shooting is a clean fit next to basically any ball-dominant creator. If the Bulls want to stabilize spacing and avoid the nightly “why is the floor shrinking” problem, he helps.
Final Thoughts
This trade idea is the perfect example of why the Lakers’ deadline is so annoying every year.
There are deals that make the team better in a vacuum, and then there are deals that make the team better without killing the next two summers. The Lakers are obsessed with the second category. That’s why they keep getting linked to “nice” moves that never happen.
If the Lakers could get Dosunmu without taking on the Williams contract, I’d be way more into it. Dosunmu’s production is real, the shooting is real, and the athleticism is the kind of ingredient this roster keeps lacking.
But that’s not the proposal.
The Lakers don’t want the Williams money on the books, and I don’t buy the idea that the Bulls are eager to move Dosunmu unless someone throws in draft assets.
If the Lakers want a real deadline win, they need to stop shopping like they’re terrified of the future. But if they want to protect that cap space plan at all costs, this is the exact type of trade they should leave on the whiteboard.
