The Los Angeles Lakers suffered their worst defeat of the NBA season on Wednesday night, as they were blown out 134-93 by the Miami Heat. It was a clear sign that the Lakers need to improve their roster. According to Eric Pinus of Bleacher Report, the Lakers cannot add extra salary to any trade and will try to trade with weaker teams like the Nets, Wizards, Jazz, Trail Blazers, Raptors, and the Jazz.
The report from Pinus also mentioned D’Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and Christian Wood as names to watch for as trade assets. Russell was mentioned in another report as one of three Lakers players who are available for trades. Hood-Schifino and Wood weren’t mentioned in that report, meaning the Lakers have several stars they are open to parting ways with.
D’Angelo Russell is in the final year of his contract and makes $18.6 million. He’s currently underperforming, averaging just 12.4 points, 4.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game. Russell provides a cap-filling point guard who isn’t playing winning basketball, which could be an attractive prospect for teams that are looking to tank going forward.
Jalen Hood-Schifino is in his second season in the NBA and playing inconsistent basketball, averaging 2.0 points, 0.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.0 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. He’s in the second year of his rookie contract and makes $3.8 million a year. A young rebuilding team would like to add another young star with potential to their team.
As for Christian Wood, he hasn’t even played this season, as he has suffered from a knee injury. Last season, he played 50 games and averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. He’s earning $3.0 million this season and is in the final year of his contract. As an experienced big, he can provide decent contributions at a cheap price for rebuilding teams.
How Can The Lakers Land Stars?
The Lakers can target several players from the teams listed above. From the Nets, the Lakers are rumored to have an interest in Cameron Johnson.
However, they don’t want to attach Rui Hachimura to any trade package for him. Perhaps one of the two scenarios we came up with might be useful for the Lakers in completing any potential deal.
Obviously, the big name from the Wizards is Jonas Valanciunas. Fadeaway World tried to come up with what a potential trade package from the Lakers could look like to complete this deal.
The Lakers have long been linked to Robert Williams III and Jerami Grant from the Portland Trail Blazers. We suggested a trade package recently that would allow the Lakers to land both stars and significantly improve their roster.
From the Raptors, the Lakers could target an efficient scorer like Bruce Brown, who has shown his championship pedigree on the Nuggets. A scoring option like Brown would help lift the scoring burden from LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ shoulders.
And as for the Utah Jazz, the name the Lakers have been targeting is Kessler Edwards. Edwards has shown that he is a solid big man, and we pitched a trade package that allows them to complete a deal and sort out their frontcourt with some massive rim protection.
Rob Pelinka must now stop being afraid and try to make some big trades. He has been very gunshy about making moves since the disastrous Russell Westbrook trade in 2021. Since then, the only major move he has made has been the one to get Westbrook out of his team.
The Lakers need help and need it fast. So come December 15th, when most of their targets become eligible for trades, they should get active in the market and make some moves.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
