The Los Angeles Lakers are being expected by many to be an extremely active franchise around the trade deadline given the large-scale rotational changes the team needs to make for a realistic shot at contention. There are multiple key areas of need from a positional standpoint, but the Lakers can’t just acquire players based on positional fit, with Shams Charania revealing they’re looking for something more.
The Lakers are trying to acquire players who are young enough to grow alongside rookie head coach JJ Redick to form the nucleus of the franchise’s roster going forward for the next three to five years.
“They want a player or players that they feel can get this alliteration of this team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but can also play 3,4,5 more years under JJ Redick as the head coach.”
The Lakers are looking for win-now players who are in their mid-to-late-20s, which will be an expensive find in the current market. Every team is looking for players who are young enough to grow on the roster while also being on affordable contracts so they can be long-term pieces.
Thankfully, there are options for LA if they want to look around the NBA and pay the price that teams put on their players.
They could acquire multiple Trail Blazers if they wanted to and get reinforcements for their guard, wing, and big man position with players Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, and Robert Williams, who could all contribute to Redick’s core for the next few years.
Teams like the Utah Jazz also have an assortment of mid-range veterans like Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler, and John Collins that the Lakers could make a blockbuster move for. They have the skill sets the Lakers need to add to their roster which being young enough to continue growing under Redick.
Finally, the Lakers need to look at what they can get from the Washington Wizards beyond Jonas Valanciunas. Bringing back someone like Kyle Kuzma alongside a veteran guard like Malcolm Brogdon could be fantastic for the franchise’s future plans as well as help them win with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the present.
The Lakers can create options for themselves but they also need to be willing to part with a future first-round pick for this. Nobody will give them multiple rotational players with the upside they’re looking for without draft assets, so Rob Pelinka needs to figure out a move soon or other teams will jump into the market and potentially leave the Lakers behind.
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