Lakerholics

Everything that had been right for the Lakers suddenly turned bad and the sunny optimism they could compete for an NBA championship without having to make a major trade has now been replaced with real concern.

The struggling Lakers have lost 3 of their last 4 games and face a daunting schedule for the rest of December where they could easily lose 5 of their 7 remaining games to end the year as a play-in team with a 17–17 record.
What a week ago looked like a Lakers team finally healthy and ready to start a long winning streak now suddenly looks like a flawed team that desperately needs a trade to upgrade starting lineup and backup center.

Over the next 2 weeks, the Lakers start with a 3-game road trip to Chicago, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City; followed by 2 games at home vs. Boston and Charlotte; and ending with Minnesota and New Orleans on the road.
Right now, it’s hard to imagine the Lakers beating the Timberwolves twice or the Thunder or Pelicans on the road, or Celtics at home. Then there are the two obvious trap games on the road against Chicago and Charlotte.

It’s not an understatement to say how the Lakers do over the next 7 games will likely determine how aggressive they are before the trade deadline. Right now, the Lakers are simply not a legitimate championship contender.

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Anthony Davis Soars But Lakers Lose LeBron Minutes

The most surprising stats from the Los Angeles Lakers’ last 4 games has been how Anthony Davis has taken his game to a new level but suddenly for some reason the team could not win the usual LeBron James minutes.

What’s more worrisome is the Lakers’ recent 4-game slide has happened despite a historic performance from Anthony Davis where he averaged 35.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.3 blocks in 36.6 mpg.
Over the last 4 games, Anthony Davis shot 63.6% from the field, 66.7% from deep, and 72% from the line. He posted a team-best +1.1 net rating for the 4 games. Despite AD’s play, the Lakers were lucky not to lose all 4 games.

Statistically, the Lakers’ problem was LeBron, who posted a team-worst -19.1 net rating the last 4 games. That is extremely concerning considering LeBron’s age and mileage and the Lakers’ reliance on winning his minutes.
Over the last 4 games, LeBron averaged 27.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 11.3 assists with just 2.7 turnovers in 38.4 mpg. His 107.4 OffRtg was pedestrian but his 126.6 DefRtg was team second-worst after Christian Wood’s 127.1.

Bottom line, the Lakers have been in tailspin since winning the In League Tournament and the situation as reached urgent levels as the Lakers need LeBron James and the rest of the roster to play better if they want to win.

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Time for Darvin Ham to Change Lakers’ Starting Lineup

Darvin Ham has stuck with a starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis. That lineup has started 12 games and played 132 minutes, most of any Lakers’ lineup.

Heading into what could be the most critical 7 games of this young season, the Lakers need to regroup and refocus their effort on playing with the energy and confidence that led them to win the In-Season Tournament. While the Lakers want to see how the addition of Gabe Vincent changes their rotations before actually making any trades, it will be interesting to see if Gabe’s presence could change who starts and plays point guard.

The Lakers need a starting lineup upgrade for D’Angelo Russell at point guard and Taurean Prince at small forward. Lakers need a defense-first 3&D point guard starter and a high-volume 3-point shooting wing starter.
Facing 7 challenging games to close out 2023, Darvin Ham should seriously consider replacing D’Angelo Russell with Gabe Vincent at point guard and replacing Taurean Prince with Rui Hachimura at small forward.

Hopefully, the quick road trip will give the Lakers players an opportunity to bond with each other and figure out how to turn this season around before it’s too late. The Lakers are unlikely to make any move until the deadline.
That means Ham and the Lakers are going to have to figure out what’s wrong with the Lakers using their current roster. They won’t be able to count in getting help from the trade market until after January 15th.

In the end, the Lakers need to survive the next 7 games. Losing 5 of the last 7 would mean the Lakers lost 8 of their last 11 games and would clearly signal that the Lakers were going to be major buyers at the trade deadline.

Despite a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis and high hopes for the rest of the team, the Lakers’ recent losses and poor play with a roster that’s finally healthy confirms they’re not a legitimate championship contender.

What’s frustrating is the Lakers still haven’t fixed the three major problems from last season: they need a point guard who can defend, an elite volume 3-point shooting wing, and a shot blocking, rim protecting backup center. Unfortunately, D’Angelo Russell is still the starting point guard and weak link defensively, Taurean Prince the starting small forward and coach Ham favorite, and Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood the pair of unplayable bigs.

It’s not just the eyeball test that says the Lakers need to make major moves before the trade deadline if they want to be a legitimate contender for the 2024 NBA championship. The stats are telling us the exact same story.
Right now, the Lakers are 15–12 and 8th in the West. Their offensive rating is 24th, their defensive rating 8th, and their net rating 18th. For the last 4 games, they dropped to 23rd in offense, 17th in defense, and 20th in net.

The Lakers as currently constructed are not a legitimate championship contender. They need an upgrade defensively at point guard, a proven high volume 3-point shooting wing, and a trustworthy defensive backup center.
A healthy Gabe Vincent returning from injury could be answer to replacing D’Angelo Russell with a better defender. Unfortunately, L.A. will have to trade for a volume 3-point shooter and backup center who can defend.

Bottom line, to win the NBA championship, the Lakers must replace D’Angelo Russell with a true 3&D starter, Taurean Prince with a proven high volume 3-point shooter, and Jaxson Hayes with a rim protecting center.

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1. Options To Replace D’Angelo Russell

The Lakers’ top three options to replace D’Angelo Russell as their starting point guard with a legitimate two-way, 3&D, defense-first guard should be Gabe Vincent, the Bulls’ Alex Caruso, and the Grizzlies’ Marcus Smart.

3. Gabe Vincent. Before making any moves, the Lakers need to know whether a healthy Gabe Vincent could be the starting point guard and offer better shooting and point-of-attack defense than D’Angelo Russell.
There are still big questions about Vincent’s role on the Lakers. He’s a better point-of-attack defender than Russell but not as good a 3-point shooter. Ideally, his best role should be as Lakers’ backup point guard.

• Gabe Vincent, 6′ 2″, 200 lbs, 27-years old, $10.5M, 3-yrs
  2022–23: 9.4/2.1/2.5 on 8.3/5.1/1.1 shots for 40.2/33.4/87.2%
  2023–24: 6.0/1/0/3.0 on 7.0/3.5/0.5 shots for 39.3/7.1/50.0%

2. Marcus Smart. Any team seeking players to give them a defensive identity needs to consider trading for Marcus Smart, a 3-time NBA All-Defensive First Team player and 2020 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Smart has to be hurting after being traded by the Celtics and what better franchise to give him a chance to redeem his game and brand in L.A. and show Boston what a massive mistake they make by trading him.

• Marcus Smart, 6′ 3″, 220 lbs, 29-years old, $18.8M, 3-yrs
  2023–24: 12.5/2.5/5.0 on 9.2/4.9/2.4 for 42.9/29.5/81.0%

1. Alex Caruso. The Lakers should never have allowed Caruso to leave. He made the 2023 NBA All-Defensive First Team as a Bull and should be the Lakers top trade option to re-prioritize defense as a point guard priority.
Alex’s contract, All-NBA defense, career high 3-point percentage, and experience and chemistry with LeBron James and Anthony Davis make him the perfect modern point guard for this defense-first Lakers team.

• Alex Caruso, 6′ 5″, 186 lbs, 29-years old, $9.4M, 2-yrs
  2023–24: 9.4/3.3/2.3 on 6.2/3.4/1.5 shots for 54.0/45.3/75.0%

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2. Options To Replace Taurean Prince

The Lakers’ best three options to replace Taurean Prince as their starting small forward with a proven volume 3-point shooting wing are Jazz’s Lauri Markkanen, Pistons’ Bojan Bogdanovic, and Hawks Bogdan Bogdanovic.

3. Bogdan Bogdanovic. Bogdan is the younger of the two Bogdanovics, who are from different countries and not related. His style of play is more like a shooting guard but he’s developed into a lethal volume 3-point shooter.
Bogdan is averaging 8.3 shots per game beyond the arc and making them at 41.0% clip. He also has the second best defensive rating on the Hawks’ roster this season, which makes him a great fit as volume 3&D wing.

• Bogdan Bogdanovic, 6′ 5″, 225 lbs, 31-years old, $18.7M, 4-yrs
  2023–24: 17.5/3.4/2.5 on 13.5/8.3/1.6 shots for 46.5/41.0/92.1

2. Bojan Bogdanovic. Bojan is the older and more experienced of the two Bogdanovics. He has the size and bulk to play either forward position and would give the Lakers an elite 3-level offensive option to close out games.
Since Detroit is tanking, Bojan is more available in trade than Bogdan. Should the Lakers be unable to pull of a mega trade for Lauri Markkanen, their next best logical move could be to trade for Bojan Bogdanovic.

• Bojan Bogdanovic, 6′ 7″, 226 lbs, 34-years old, $20M, 2-yr
  2023–24: 21.1/2.3/2.5 on 14.6/7.4/4.6 shots for 49.6/42.4/75.7%

1. Lauri Markkanen. Lauri Markkanen is the perfect option to replace Taurean Prince at small forward. He not only has the volume shooting stroke the Lakers desperately need but also positional size and length.
The Lakers should go all-in on Lauri and offer the equivalent of three unprotected post-LeBron first round picks, including 2029 pick, removing 1–4 protection from 2027 pick, and adding a 2028 first round pick swap.

• Lauri Markannen, 7′ 0″, 240 lbs, 26-years old, $17.2M,2-yrs
  2023–24: 23.2/8.5/1.3 on 16.2/8.1/5.1 shots for 48.6/38.4/84.6%

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3. Options To Replace Jaxon Hayes

The Lakers’ top three options to replace Jaxson Hayes as their backup center with a defensive big who can protect the rim are the Wizards’ Daniel Gafford, the Jazz’ Kelly Olynyk, and the Warriors’ Draymond Green.

3. Draymond Green. The Lakers will surely be monitoring the Draymond Green situation and will be ready to pounce should the Warriors end up deciding they have no option other than to trade the controversial big.
While the chances of Golden State trading Green to Los Angeles would be slim because of how great a fit Dray would be playing next to his Klutch buddies James and Davis, it’s probably the first call the Lakers make.

• Draymond Green , 6′ 6′, 230 lbs, 33-years old, $22.3M, 4-yrs
  2023–24: 9.7/5.5/5.8 on 6.9/2.8/2.0 shots for 49.0/42.9/83.3%

2. Kelly Olynyk. While he doesn’t specifically fit the criteria of being a good rim protector, Kelly average 0.2 blocks and 0.8 steals in just 21.6 mpg. Like Green, Olynyk would be a dynamic second big to start alongside Davis.
Olynyk would also be terrific as the Lakers’ backup center as his 3-point shooting, rebounding, and playmaking prowess would be needed skillsets for the Lakers whenever Anthony Davis goes to the bench to rest.

• Kelly Olynyk, 6′ 11′, 240 lbs, 32-years old, $12.2M, 3-yrs
  2023–24: 7.3/5.8/4.3 on 4.8/1.8/1.6 shots for 53.3/42.2/89.7%

1. Daniel Gafford. The Lakers’ best option to replace Jaxson Hayes as the Lakers backup center is the Wizards’ Daniel Gafford, who’s averaging 2..1 blocks and 0.6 steals in 25.3 mpg. Daniel Gafford is an elite rim protector.
The Lakers have always had a good relationship with the Wizards’ front office and trading for Daniel Gafford should be the Lakers top priority. Gafford would solidify the Lakers defense whenever AD was on the bench.

• Daniel Gafford, 6′ 10′, 234 lbs, 25-years old, $12.4M, 3-yrs
  2023–24: 10.6/7.7/1.8 on 6.3/0.0/2.6 shots for 69.2/0.0/70.0%

Rob Pelinka and the Lakers may have an opportunity to pull off a pair of blockbuster trades and steal a pair of elite second-tier star players from potential dumpster fire sales by the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz.

Right now, the Lakers need to go all-in to upgrade the starting positions held by D’Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince if they want to be a legitimate contender to prevail and win their 18th NBA championship this season. The Lakers’ primary targets to replace D’Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince in their starting lineup should be the Grizzlies Marcus Smart on or after December 15 and the Jazz’ Lauri Markkanen on or after January 15.

While the Lakers are off to a relatively good start despite not having their full 14-man roster healthy and available to play, they already have a good idea of their major weaknesses and what they need to do to get better.
Despite a deep and diverse roster, the Lakers still need a viable long-term two-way point guard to replace D’Angelo Russell and a high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter to add firepower to their starting lineup.

Complicating the situation for the Lakers, LeBron James will soon be 39-years old and there’s no guarantee at this point he’s going to exercise his player option and play next season. He could leave as a free agent or retire.
While that is probably unlikely considering how well the King is playing, the Lakers know the clock is ticking and, at some point soon, they’re going to have to replace LeBron James despite how irreplaceable he will be.

Let’s look at the what it would take for L.A. to pull off a pair of blockbuster trades for the Grizzlies’ Marcus Smart and Jazz’ Lauri Markkanen that could transform the purple and gold from a contender to an NBA champion.

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TRADE 1: DEC 15 — MARCUS SMART AND JOHN KONCHAR

The first blockbuster trade the Lakers should pursue on or after December 15 would send D’Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and their 2030 first round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for Marcus Smart and John Konchar.

The Memphis Grizzlies are a mess. They’re currently 14th in the West with 6–17 record and zero chance of making the playoffs even with Ja Morant returning to play. They should love a Lakers’ post-LeBron pick for Smart.

For the Lakers, while they valued Russell’s scoring and playmaking, in the end, they simply did not believe he could be the starting point guard on a championship team. They believe Smart is a better player and better fit.
The Lakers saw what adding Jrue Holiday did to the Bucks and Celtics defenses and believe replacing D’Angelo Russell with Marcus Smart will make the Lakers a more dangerous team both offensively and defensively.

Realistically, this trade for Smart will have to be paired with a second trade come January 15 that addresses the Lakers’ pressing need for a third star and volume 3-point shooter to upgrade the offense of their starting lineup.

The starting lineup of Smart, Reddish, Prince, James, and Davis has the potential to be a defensive juggernaut. Hopefully, Vincent will stay healthy and help Vanderbilt give a strong defensive identity to the second unit.

In Marcus Smart, the Lakers get their long term solution at point guard and a player whose heart and energy are contagious. Pairing him with Cam Reddish could give Los Angeles the best defensive backcourt in the league. Importantly, the Lakers still maintained a 12-man rotation, which give them some valuable insurance against future injuries. Considering our history and how many players get injured, consolidating could be risky.

As the Lakers have to wait until Hachimura is eligible to be traded, they will be forced to rely on their championship defense and domination in the paint and at on the line to continue to carry them until January 15.

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TRADE 2: JAN 15 — LAURI MARKKANEN AND KELLY OLYNYK

The second blockbuster trade the Lakers should make on or after January 15 would send Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and what’s essentially three unprotected first rounders to Utah for Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk.

The Lakers already owe the Jazz their 2027 first round pick unless it’s one of the top four picks but could remove that protection so that the pick was essentially now a completely unprotected post-LeBron first round pick.

The Lakers could also include first round pick swaps for 2028 and 2029, which combined with the 2027 pick would essentially give the Jazz L.A.’s unprotected post-LeBron first round draft picks for 2027, 2028, and 2029.
Frankly, three post-LeBron unprotected first round picks could be the kind of offer it would take to convince Danny Ainge to trade Lauri Markkanen, who at 27-years old is now the closest thing Utah has to a franchise player.

Not insignificantly, Danny Ainge could also be the only NBA shot caller likely to still be on the job when the Lakers 2027 and 2029 first round draft picks will actually be made. He knows those picks could be top-5 picks.

The starting lineup of Smart, Reddish, Markkanen, James, and Davis could be the best in the entire NBA with an offensive ‘Big Three’ of James, Davis, and Markkanen and a defensive ‘Big Three’ of Davis, Smart, and Reddish.

Markkanen may not be a superstar but he is the perfect fit as a third star and floor stretching volume 3-point shooting forward the Los Angeles Lakers desperately need to balance their defense-first starting lineup.
This season, Lauri is averaging 23.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 33.5 minutes per game shooting 48.7% from the field, 39.0% from deep on 8.5 attempts per game, and 82.9% from the line on 5 free throws per game.

His size will also finally allow the Lakers to play the two-bigs lineups they envisioned and preferred at the start of the season before both Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes failed to play good enough defense to win the job.

Finally healthy, the Lakers’ defensive dominance while winning four of their last five games has catapulted them to a 14–9 record tied for fourth in the West and could change how they plan to approach the trade deadline.

With Anthony Davis dominating everywhere, Cam Reddish emerging as the team’s starting defensive stopper, and Jarred Vanderbilt finally returning from injury, the Lakers have suddenly become a defensive juggernaut.
Over the last five games, the Lakers’ defense has posted a league-best 103.1 defensive rating that combined with their 114.6 offensive rating enabled them to generate a +11.5 net rating, which was second best in the league.

With backup point guard Gabe Vincent scheduled to return when the Lakers play the Knicks at home on December 18, the Lakers will finally have their full roster healthy for the very first time this entire season.
While D’Angelo Russell has been having an excellent season and is shooting 40.5% on 5.5 attempts per game, Gabe Vincent has the long term contract and is considered to be the better defender between the two.

How the Lakers play the rest of December will have a major impact on their ultimate trade deadline decisions. L.A. has 11 games remaining before December 31st and are unlikely to make any moves before then.
Should they continue to win games, dominate defensively, and rise in the standings, however, the Lakers may ultimately decide to stand pat or only make minor moves on the margins before the February 8 trade deadline.

Let’s take a look at how the Lakers’ defense has emerged as a dominant force, why the 11 games remaining in December could change Lakers’ midseason strategy, and what the Lakers are likely to do at the deadline.

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LAKERS’ DEFENSIVE DOMINATION

Injuries muddied the Lakers’ early vision of a big, long, and athletic bully ball defense that could dominate the paint,control the rim, and shrink the court and with their overwhelming positional size, length, and physicality.

Give Lakers’ head coach Darvin Ham credit for the bold move that ignited the Lakers’ defense by moving Austin Reaves to 6th man and making Cam Reddish the team’s starting shooting guard and de facto defensive stopper.
In the 12 games since that change, the Lakers record is 10–2 and their defense has consistently ranked among five best in the league. Reddish has also played well offensively and appears to be a lock as starting two guard.

But the return of injured forwards Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura triggered a second wave of improvement for the Lakers size and defense. Now when Cam Reddish leaves the court, Jarred Vanderbilt comes in.
There was kind of a consensus Taurean Prince was simply a placeholder for Jarred Vanderbilt. While that could still turn out to be the case, being able to have an elite perimeter defender all 48 minutes is a killer weapon.

And that’s exactly what the Lakers threw at Tyrese Haliburton every minute he was in the game. Haliburton noted in his postgame presser thankfully “Not every team has Anthony Davis and a bunch of 6′ 8” and 6′ 9″ wings.” Every time the Pacers tried to pull Anthony Davis out of the paint with a Haliburton pick-and-roll, the Lakers counter by trapping and doubling Tyrese and forcing him to make tough passes that James was waiting for.

The Lakers’ defensive domination is real and should only get better when 6’3″ point-of-attack defender Gabe Vincent returns to action next week. Lakers plan to ride their #1 defense to a league-leading 18th NBA title.

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LAKERS’ DECEMBER CHALLENGE

The Los Angles Lakers’ December challenge starts with 4 winnable games, including 1 road game against the Mavs without Kyrie, 2 road games against the Spurs, and 1 home game against the Knicks without Mitchell Robinson.

Then comes the most challenging part of the Lakers’ December schedule as they depart on a 7-game road trip. From December 21 to 30, the Lakers play the Timberwolves twice and the Celtics and the Thunder once each.
Ideally, the Lakers should sweep the 3-game Texas road trip and 1-game homestand versus the Knicks to raise their record to 18–9. Should L.A. be able to go 5–2 on that road trip, it would leave them at 23–11 at year end.

A 23–11 record should be good enough for #2 seed in the West, assuming the Timberwolves continue to hold the #1 seed. Were the Lakers to win both of the teams’ games in late December, Lakers could even be #1.
While the Lakers continue to prove defense can carry them, they need better and more 3-point shooting to loosen up opposing defenses if they want to win the championship. Right now, it’s limiting their ceiling.

The numbers behind the Lakers’ poor 3-point shooting are telling. Lakers rank #30 with 10.2 makes per game while allowing 13.5 makes per game, which means they are losing the 3-point battle by 9.9 points per game.
The Lakers counter that by winning the points-in-the-paint battle by 6.5 points per game and the made-free-throws battle by 5.5 points. That’s the Lakers’ game plan and at this point, it’s working and Lakers are winning.

How the Lakers handle this December challenge will influence what the team does at the trade deadline. They’ll clearly have to shoot better than they did against the Pacers to survive the December challenge.

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LAKERS DEADLINE NEEDS

The Los Angeles Lakers are simply the worst 3-point shooting team in the league. They make the fewest threes of any NBA team because they take the second fewest attempts and shoot the fifth worst percentage of any team.

However, the Lakers have been better during the last 15 games of the season, when they’ve gone 11–4. During those 15 games, the team raised it’s 3-point percentage from 34.3% to 36.8%, which ranked 14th in the league.
The problem is that 2.5% increase in 3P% only worked out to be 1.8 more points per game because they still took less than 30 3PA per game. The Lakers will need to make a trade to solve their 3-point shooting problem

In the modern NBA era, the NBA championship has never been won by the team that is the worst 3-point shooting team in the league. The Lakers would have to make history to the NBA championship shooting so poorly.
Nor is the answer is Zach LaVine or Trae Young, who are both too expensive and fragile. More than anything, the Lakers need a proven lethal 3-point shooter who will torch teams every time they try to double LeBron or AD.

But the Lakers will need to trade for a volume 3-point shooter if they want to cut down on the massive negative 3-point differential that they face in almost every game. The current roster can’t shoot their way out of this. Pelinka may even have to spend a valuable draft pick to get a player who can shoot near 40% and takes 7 to 8 threes per game. Adding a lethal shooter like Buddy Hield or Bojan Bogdanovic could be the missing piece.

The Lakers essentially need a high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter as fifth starter next to LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Cam Reddish and either D’Angelo Russell or Gabe Vincent. Someone like Bojan Bogdanovic.

The Lakers’ Zach LaVine trade will not end up like the Russell Westbrook trade because LaVine’s a better player and fit than Russ and L.A. won’t agree to any deal unless Chicago’s appropriately desperate to dump Zach.

Two years ago, the Lakers traded Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and the 22 pick in 2021 draft to the Washington Wizards for Russell Westbrook and their 2024 and 2028 second round picks.
Essentially, the Lakers gave up two starters, one backup, and one first round pick for Westbrook and two second round picks. While L.A. missed Kuzma and KCP, the core issue with the trade was Westbrook’s poor fit.

Ultimately, the decision to trade for Zach LaVine will depend on whether the Lakers believe he is the right fit for what they need and whether the Bulls are willing to accept the players and draft capital being offered.
Right now, it appears the Bulls’ first priority is dumping LaVine before other pieces and it appears the Lakers are interested but only at the right price, which makes sense considering the Bulls don’t have other options.

Pelinka’s done a great job rebuilding Lakers after the Westbrook disaster and has the team well positioned with tradable players on team friendly contracts and a post-LeBron pick just waiting for opportunity to knock.
The Lakers don’t have player chips or draft capital to trade for a legitimate superstar like Doncic or Jokic so they must be realistically opportunistic when a struggling team like the Bulls needs to dump LaVine’s huge salary.

Let’s take a deeper dive into why Zach LaVine is a better player and fit for the Lakers than Russell Westbrook, what an acceptable Lakers/Bulls trade would look like, and how good the Lakers’ roster and rotation would be.

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Zach LaVine Is Not Russell Westbrook

Let’s start with the obvious: Zach LaVine is not Russell Westbrook, whose poor ball shot selection, inane ball security, and abysmal shooting made him a terrible fit next to superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Four years younger than Russ was when traded to L.A., the 28-year old LaVine is a better fit as a third star on the Lakers than Russ was because his elite 3-point shooting gravity could unleash superstars James and Davis.
Zach LaVine gives the Lakers an All-Star shooting guard who can give the starting lineup 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game to make the team less dependent on soon-to-be 39-years old superstar LeBron James.

LaVine’s a career 38.2% high-volume 3-point shooter who averaged over 37.5% on 7 to 8 attempts per game over last four seasons before getting off to a slow start this season and shooting just 33.6% from deep.
The Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis desperately need an elite high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter whom teams have to defend who can create space for James and Davis to attack the rim.

Unlike Westbrook, LaVine possesses the right shooting, playmaking, and rebounding skills to fit in as the Lakers’ third star with James and Davis and then move on as the second star with Davis when James eventually retires. Fortunately for the Lakers, they already probably know what LaVine is willing to do to fit in with the Lakers because of their close relationship with Klutch Sports Group, who’re the agents for James, Davis, and LaVine.

A Lakers trade for LaVine was predicted when Zach signed with Klutch Sports Group in 2021. With the right mindset and mentality, Zach could become the uber-athletic long-range assassin the Lakers have long coveted

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An Acceptable Lakers/Bulls Trade

The trade Lakers’ reporter Eric Pincus thinks is ‘most practical’ for the Lakers sends D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and a lightly protected 2029 first round draft pick to the Bulls for Zach LaVine.

What makes the trade work for the Lakers despite LaVine’s $40.0 million salary this season and the $178.1 million remaining on his 4-year contract, is they’re only giving up two rotation players and one first round pick.
Because of the size of LaVine’s contract and lack of competing teams, the Lakers shouldn’t be willing to give up Austin Reaves or include pick swaps. If they need a sweetener, include Max Christie and a couple of seconds.

Giving up just two rotation players means the Lakers will lose a net of one rotation player when they trade Zach LaVine for rotation players D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura plus non-rotation players Hood-Schifino.
That would let L.A. retain a deep 11-man rotation with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Zach LaVine, Austin Reaves, Cam Reddish, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Taurean Prince, Christian Wood, and Jaxson Hayes.

Strategically, the Lakers know there will be a risk trading for LaVine. The money could seriously limit future options. LaVine’s also injury prone like James and Davis and he could run into problems fitting with the Lakers. Hopefully, salary cap increases will normalize Zach’s contract, he and the rest of the team will remain healthy, and the fit with the Lakers will be seamless and complement and unleash LeBron and AD to be their best.

Zach LaVine is not Russell Westbrook. If the Bulls are willing to trade Zach LaVine for D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and a 2029 first round pick, that’s an gamble the Lakers should not pass up.

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Post-Trade Starting Lineup & Rotation

The key to a successful trade for Zach LaVine is the Lakers ending up with a dramatically upgraded starting lineup and still being able to field a deep and diverse 10 or 11-man rotation despite paying for three max superstars.

A Lakers’ starting lineup with LeBron James at point guard, Zach LaVine at shooting guard, Cam Reddish at small forward, Jarred Vanderbilt at power forward, and Anthony Davis at center could be among the best in the NBA.
James, Davis, and LaVine give the Lakers’ starting lineup a trio of lethal offensive weapons while Reddish and Vanderbilt give them a duo of lock-down point-of-attack defenders to throw at opposing teams’ backcourts.

Bench depth and diversity matter. Post-trade, the Lakers primary backups would be Gabe Vincent at the one, Austin Reaves at the two, Taurean Prince at the three, Christian Wood at the four, and Jaxson Hayes at the five.
The Lakers would also have Max Christie, who at best could work his way into the rotation and at worst be insurance in case some player got injured, and they have an edge over other contenders in signing buyout candidates.

If there’s concern about the Lakers’ post-trade roster, it’s that the Lakers have four key players in Reddish, Prince, Wood, and Hayes for whom they don’t have Bird rights and could easily lose to free agency next summer. Fortunately, the Lakers have developed a reputation as the best landing spot for struggling free agents looking to redeem their games and brands playing with James and Davis under the bright lights of Los Angeles.

Zach LaVine is a better fit as a third star for the Los Angeles Lakers than Russell Westbrook was because he’s a career 38.2% 3-point shooter whose 4 rebounds and assists per game would reduce dependence on LeBron James