Lakerholics

There’s only one reason the Los Angeles Lakers do not want to trade their 2027 and 2029 first round draft picks. They’re hoping to use those picks to trade for a third superstar like Bradley Beal or Zach LaVine next summer.

When you sift through the conflicting rumors, it’s obvious the one thing that has kept the Lakers from making a trade in the past and is keeping them from making a trade today is their fixation on a third superstar.
The latest reports suggest the Lakers now plan to save their two tradeable first round picks and use them in a blockbuster, 3-pick trade next summer for a third superstar like Bradley Beal, Zach LaVine, or Kyrie Irving.

That means the Lakers will likely hold onto their chips as long as possible and wait until the February 9 trade deadline before doing anything to help the current roster and won’t include their 2027 or 2029 pick in any trades.
In many ways, the Lakers are playing a very dangerous game that could easily backfire and end up costing them their future with LeBron James and Anthony Davis and their alliance with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports.

Let’s take a closer look at three questions the Lakers need to address to make sure their pursuit of a third superstar won’t doom the current season, cost them their two superstars, and put the future of the franchise at risk.

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Should Lakers Even Pursue a Third Superstar?

The Russell Westbrook experiment should have showed the Lakers signing or trading for a third superstar makes it hard to build a quality roster since all you are able to afford are players earning the league minimum salary.

So even if the Lakers were able to trade for Zach LaVine, who would be a better fit because he’s young, talented, can shoot the three, and is repped by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports, there’s more than just fit to consider.
The NBA has always been a superstars’ league and the Lakers’ legacy is filled with legends but the purple and gold have won more rings with just two superstars rather than three, including the last six championships.

There’s a reason why three Kobe and Shaq, two Kobe and Pau, and one LeBron and AD two-superstar teams won the Lakers’ last six titles: they surrounded their two superstars with deep, talented, versatile benches.
That doesn’t mean you can’t win NBA championships with three superstars. The Lakers won five championships with Magic, Worthy, and Kareem and the Warriors won four championships with Curry, Thompson, and Green.

But the third superstar option is not the best for the Lakers and LeBron and AD. The smarter move would be to upgrade the other three starters, which would push the current starters to the bench and improve the rotation.

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How Do Lakers Keep LeBron and AD Happy?

The Lakers biggest concern if the Lakers decide not to trade the picks is what to say to LeBron James, whom they promised to do everything they could, including trading picks, to give him a chance to win a ring at 38?

Considering LeBron’s and Anthony’s recent comments, there’s no question that there appears to be a split between the Lakers’ front office and their two Klutch Sports superstars on the team’s prospects for this season.
Right now, the 15–21 Lakers are just 1 loss from the Play-In Tournament and just 4 losses from a guaranteed playoff spot and the news on Anthony Davis’ foot injury is promising with a possible mid to late January return.

The Lakers need to somehow get their record back up to .500 over the first half of January to still be in position to make the playoffs if the front office were to make a blockbuster trade before the February 9 trade deadline.
If they can do that, it’s hard to see the Lakers throwing away a season where 38-year old LeBron James is dominating and 29-year old Anthony Davis is playing like the league’s MVP and best player on the planet.

While the Lakers would like to keep their picks and use them in a mega trade package next summer for a third superstar, their smartest move would still be to trade the picks at the deadline to win this season.

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How Does This Affect Lakers’ Superstar Legacy?

The Lakers have carefully cultivated an image as the franchise for whom superstars like Kobe and LeBron want to play and retire. Breaking promises to LeBron and tanking this season could severely damage that image.

That’s why the Los Angeles Lakers are more likely to give in to the pressure from LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Rich Paul of Klutch Sports and agree to trade the picks to give LeBron and AD a chance to win this season.
The alternative, which is holding onto the picks, could easily end up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis requesting a trade from the Lakers and the long-term alliance between the Lakers and Klutch Sports dissolving.

You have to believe that Rich Paul and Rob Pelinka have had some heated discussions about the recent news that the Lakers may decide to keep their two draft picks for a blockbuster trade for a third superstar next summer.
Frankly, it’s hard to believe the Lakers would risk their relationship with their superstars and throw away a chances of winning a championship despite how great James and Davis have played when they were healthy.

In the end, the Lakers are going to have to decide whether they still want the purple and gold to be where the league’s greatest stars want to play and retire. If so, they need to keep their two superstars James and Davis happy.

Jerry Buss understood championships were the key to the Lakers’ success. Sadly, his daughter seems to have forgotten that as her unwillingness to pay big luxury taxes threatens to turn the Lakers into second tier competitors.

After two decades with the New York Knicks or Los Angeles Lakers being the NBA’s most valuable franchises, the Golden State Warriors parlayed four titles in last eight years to take over as the league’s most valuable franchise.
Per Forbes, the Golden State Warriors are worth $7.6 billion followed by New York Knicks at $6.6 billion, Los Angeles Lakers at $6.4 billion, and Chicago Bulls at $4.1 billion. Median NBA franchise value is $2.4 billion.

What fueled the Warriors’ rise to the league’s most valuable franchise was it’s commitment to build the best roster money could buy regardless of the astronomical luxury taxes that would accompany this kind of imperative.
Worth just $1.3 billion when they won their first title in 2015 followed by second and third titles in 2017 and 2018, the Warriors proved Dr. Buss formula still works as they quintupled their value over the last eight years.

While there’s hope the mega luxury taxes issue will be somehow resolved in the next CBA, the truth is the money raised from the luxury taxes has now become a valued source of revenue for the rest of the NBA teams.
Eliminating exorbitant luxury taxes could be difficult to do when so many NBA teams either are either willing to pay the luxury tax toll or totally willing to accept their share of the taxes as a bonus revenue sharing.

Unless Jeanie Buss and her family are willing to pay the exorbitant luxury tax toll that’s now required to compete for a championship in today’s NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers will suddenly become second tier competitors.

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How Three Billionaire Team Owners Have Raised the Bar

What’s happened is three teams with billionaire owners — Warriors, Nets, and Clippers — have raised the bar of what it takes to legitimately compete for a championship in today’s NBA to include unlimited luxury taxes.

Last season, the Warriors paid a record $170 million in luxury taxes while the Nets paid $98 million, the Clippers $83 million, the Bucks $54 million, the Lakers $45 million, the Jazz $118 million, and the 76ers $14 million.
This year, Warriors will pay $170 million, Clippers $145 million, Nets $108 million, Bucks at $70 million, Celtics $65 million, Lakers $41 million, Suns $35 million, Mavs $34 million, Nuggets $17 million, and 76ers $2 million.

The problem is the Buss family does not have the resources to compete with mega billionaire owners like the Clippers’ Steve Balmer (Microsoft), the Nets’ Joe Tsai (Alibaba), or the Warriors Joe Lacob (Kleiner-Perkins).
While the six Buss children own 2/3 of the Los Angeles Lakers, they do not have outside sources of income like Balmer, Tsai, or Lacob and must live off the revenue stream they receive from the Lakers operating profits.

Luxury taxes are a major issue. That’s why the front office did not match salaries and keep valuable role player Alex Caruso last season. It’s why the Lakers will not take back more salaries in any trade than they send out.
It’s a position that’s already relegated the Lakers to second tier status as a competitor. They’re willing to spend $40-50 million in luxury taxes but won’t pony up the $100–170 million paid by the Dubs, Nets, and Clippers.

The Lakers must remember championships created their franchise value. If mega luxury taxes are now required to compete for championships, then the Lakers need to accept that as part of the cost of doing business.

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How Lakers Became Second Tier Competitor

The above chart shows ten NBA teams are projected to pay $653 million in luxury taxes for the current season. That’s $65 million in taxes per team which will result in a bonus of $32.5 million for each of the other 20 teams.

Luxury taxes will likely be a major point of contention when it comes to the league and the players negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. There will be the usual hard push by the league for some form of hard cap.
In the end, it’s going to be hard to give up a system where 10 teams pay $65 million each in luxury taxes, which would then be split between the 20 non-tax paying teams, who would get $32.5 million each in profit sharing.

The ten tax paying teams can easily be broken down into four tiers. Tier 1 is the teams willing to spend over $100 million in luxury taxes and includes the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, and Brooklyn Nets.
Tier 2 is the teams willing to spend $40–100 million in luxury taxes and includes the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Tier 3 is for teams willing to spend $0–40 million in luxury taxes.

Right now, the Lakers are not willing to accept trades that raise their total annual salaries because that would also mean increased luxury taxes. L.A paid $45 million last season and is projected to pay $41 million this season. Unless the Lakers are willing to match the luxury taxes that the Warriors, Clippers, and Nets are willing to pay, there is no way they are going to be able to remain competitive being outspent by $60-$130 million per year.

There’s no question that the explosive rise in luxury taxes has changed the competitive landscape in the NBA. As a result, the Lakers’ unwillingness to pay exorbitant luxury taxes has made them second tier competitors.

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How Being Second Tier Competitor Will Affect Lakers

After the long dark struggles due to Covid, the NBA is now on the verge of entering another golden age where team revenues, salary caps, franchise values, and superstar salaries soar to never before imagined highs.

Acquiring and developing young players who have Bird rights is a critical part of intelligent roster construction. The NBA has a ‘soft’ cap, which means teams can go over the cap to re-sign players with Bird rights.
The Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, and Brooklyn Nets have spent major sums of money using Bird rights to exceed the salary cap and paying luxury taxes to lock up valuable players to long-term contracts.

The Lakers are already worried that they may not be able to afford to re-sign sophomore sensation Austin Reaves, who’s clearly the third best player on this roster and will probably earn a bigger payday than Alex Caruso.
Make no mistake, re-signing Austin Reaves or trading for and re-signing a player like Myles Turner will not only increase the Lakers’ annual salaries but also increase the luxury taxes due because of the higher salaries.

The Lakers also want to avoid the repeater tax, which doubles the luxury taxes for any team that has been a taxpayer three out of any four years. Lakers will have paid taxes for three straight years after this season.
That means there could be great pressure on the Lakers’ front office from the Buss family to avoid paying taxes this season and next so that the team would not be a repeat offender and have future luxury taxes doubled.

Jerry Buss always understood that you had to spend money to make money. The Lakers need to understand that exorbitant luxury taxes are just the latest toll teams need to pay today to compete for an NBA championship.

The Lakers have only won two of the seven games they’ve played since Anthony Davis injured his foot against Denver on December 16, leaving them at 14–21 with 10 games before AD’s earliest possible return.

Frankly, unless the Lakers immediately make a move to add desperately needed size, shooting, and defense in the front court, there is little chance they’ll be close enough at the trade deadline to still make the playoffs.
The numbers are daunting. The Lakers are 7 games under .500 now and need to be .500 by the deadline to have enough time to make the playoffs, which means winning at least 14 of the 20 games before February 9th.

There are two moves the Lakers could make right now to land a starting quality center to fill in and backup AD when he returns and new starting and backup 3&D wings to upsize and upgrade the small forward position.
The cost for making these moves would include the expiring contracts of Patrick Beverley, Kendrick Nunn, and Damian Jones plus the Lakers 2027 first round pick, with protection if the pick ends being a top-10 pick.

By making these two trades, the Lakers should be able to win enough games to survive the loss of Anthony Davis and keep their hopes of winning their 18th NBA championship alive while still building for the future.

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1. Trade for Mo Bamba and Terrence Ross

While Thomas Bryant has done a good job filling in for AD offensively, the Lakers desperately need an immediate trade for size and defense at center and small forward positions if they hope to survive until the trade deadline.

Trading for Mo Bamba and Terrence Ross would give the Lakers two young legitimate starter quality players who can shoot the three and defend their positions to help the team whether the storm until Anthony Davis returns.
Most importantly, the Magic trade would only cost the Lakers three players in Beverley, Nunn, and Jones who had not lived up to expectations and were not needed and a first round draft pick but with top-10 protections.

Mo Bamba and Terrence Ross add size, shooting, and defense. The 24-year old, 7′ 0″, 230 lbs Bamba is shooting 38.7% on 3.0 3PA per game. He is also blocking 1.0 shots and making 0.3 steals in just 19.0 minutes per game.
The 31-year old, 6′ 6″, 206 lbs. Ross has split his time between shooting guard and small forward and is shooting 34.9% on 4.0 3PA per game while playing solid team defense. Lakers are suddenly bigger and better.

By trading for Mo Bamba and Terrence Ross, the Lakers dramatically upgrade their starting lineup with size, shooting, and defense to help the team survive until Anthony Davis is returns from his foot injury.

Mo Bamba, CE, 24 years old, 7′ 0″ 231 lbs
8.1/5.4/1.0/1.0/0.3 on 5.9/3.0/1.5 shots for 50.0%/38.4%/68.2%

Terrence Ross, SF, 31 years old, 6′ 6″ 206 lbs
8.0/2.0/1.3 on 7.5/4.0/0.5 shots for 41.7%/34.9%/70.6%

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2. Trade for Cam Reddish

The second trade the Lakers should make is to trade Lonnie Walker IV, whom the Lakers will likely lose to free agency because they do not have his Bird rights, for Cam Reddish, who fortunately has his Bird rights.

The trade is a win for both the Knicks and the Lakers. The Lakers get a 23-year old 3&D wing who was a lottery pick and shows promise both as a 3-point shooter and as a wing defender. The Lakers get size and defense.
The Knicks get a young shooting guard enjoying a breakout season, whom they can extend after trading for him or sign with cap space this summer. Either way, the Knicks get a rising young star for a player they didn’t want.

In many ways, Reddish would likely start as the backup small forward behind veteran Terrence Ross. Because Reddish will become a free agent this summer, the Lakers need to extend or re-sign him with Bird rights.
The purpose of this trade is to get rid of a guard who did not have Bird rights and could not be re-signed for a forward with Bird rights who could be re-signed. Lakers choose not to lose Walker for nothing like Monk.

Trading Lonnie Walker IV for Cam Reddish is a win-win move for the Lakers and the Knicks. Both teams should be thrilled to get a talented young player who fits their needs and whom they could easily re-sign.

Cam Reddish, SF, 23-years old, 6′ 8″ 217 lbs
8.4/1.6/1.0 on 6.8/2.8/1.7 shots for 44.9%/30.4%/87.9%

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3. The Depth Chart

The net impact of the trades is the Lakers trade Walker, Beverley, Nunn, Jones, and their 2027 first round draft pick with top-10 protection for three quality rotation players in Mo Bamba, Terrence Ross, and Cam Reddish.

The two trades not only give the Lakers a starting quality center in Bamba to fill in for the injured Anthony Davis and then back him up when he returns but also starting and backup 3&D wings to play small forward.
Until Davis returns, which hopefully will be in mid-January, Bamba can be the Lakers’ starting center with Ross as the team’s starting small forward. That should be a dramatic upgrade of the starting lineup until AD returns.

Once Davis comes back, the Lakers will have the versatility to play Bamba and Davis together in a two-big jumbo lineup or go super small on steroids with AD at the five, James at the four, and Ross or Reddish at the three.
One huge advantage of adding Bamba is the Lakers will be able to stagger his minutes with Anthony Davis so they will have an elite rim protector and shot blocker at center on the court for all 48 minutes of every game.

Trading for Bamba, Ross, and Reddish adds critical size, shooting, and defense to the Lakers’ starting lineup and 10-man rotation while only costing expiring contracts and a top-10 protected first round pick.

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3. The Trade Deadline

While Mo Bamba, Terrence Ross, and Cam Reddish would be excellent fits for what the Lakers need and quality upgrades to add depth to the roster, none of them fill the Lakers need for a third star to help carry the team.

If trading for Mamba, Ross, and Reddish keeps the season alive, the Lakers must go-all in at the deadline and trade Westbrook and their remaining first round pick to get a needed third star or multiple elite rotation players.
While the Lakers would love to get a chance to trade for a LaVine or Beal, they’d be better off if they were able to trade Westbrook and the 2029 to the Toronto Raptors for a package of VanVleet, Trent, Jr., and Boucher.

The trade landscape could dramatically change over the six weeks between today and February 9, 2023. Buyers may suddenly become sellers and players who were thought to be untouchable may become available.
If the Lakers are going to win, they must always be looking to get better and be in perpetual team building mode. Every move just has to fit in a long-term template or formula that balances size, shooting, and defense.

Finally, the Lakers need to accept trading Westbrook and the pick will give them a shot at winning a championship and leave them with a better roster than if they kept Russ and used $35 million in cap space to sign free agents.

Without Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers have now lost four straight games and fallen to 13th in the West at 13–20, 3.0 games out of 10th and the Play-In Tournament and 5.0 games out of 6th and guaranteed playoffs.

The good news is the West is wide open, LeBron James is playing dominant basketball, and Anthony Davis appears to have dodged a major injury and could be back on court to resume his MVP/DPOY campaign mid-January. 
The bad news is recent reports say the Lakers’ front office is now leaning to not trading either of the team’s two available draft picks unless the deeply flawed team they created can somehow show again they’re worth backing.

Enough is enough. It’s one thing to screw up and make a dumb trade for Russell Westbrook, a move that basically locked the Lakers into a financial straight jacket they haven’t been smart or proactive enough to get out of. 
But then to claim that now they’re not going to do anything more because they’re afraid of compounding previous mistakes with win-now moves? That’s a totally self-serving and strategically stupid position to take.

The solution is just to be smart about what you get back for Westbrook, Beverley, Nunn, Jones, and the two first round draft picks. That should be enough to bring back at least four legitimate starters or rotation players. 
Those four players should include a starting and backup 3&D wing to play small forward, a backup rim protecting center to start now and backup AD when he returns, and a bigger 3&D point guard to replace Westbrook.

Add those four new players to a six-player nucleus from the current roster of James, Davis, Reaves, Bryant, Schröder, and Christie and you have a stronger and deeper Lakers’ 10-man rotation that could be a contender.

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Time for LeBron and AD to Demand Action?

The time has come for LeBron James and Anthony Davis to show Lakers’ owner Jeanie Buss and VPBO Rob Pelinka that it’s the superstars, not the owners or genera managers, who hold the real reins of power in the NBA. 

James and Davis need to remind Pelinka and Buss they’ll be free agents at the end of next season and, if the Lakers expect to re-sign them, they need to trade Westbrook and the picks now to give this roster a chance to win.
Failing to take advantage of how wide open the Western Conference is this season and how dominant both James and Davis have been when healthy despite the terribly constructed roster and would be a major mistake. 

The Lakers’ problem is not that there aren’t legitimate starters or rotation players they could trade for. It’s that there aren’t any ‘superstars’ available to trade for. Pelinka’s great fear of missing a big trade has paralyzed him. 
The result has been the easy decision to do nothing as the team loses more games and the hole they’re going to have to dig their way out of gets deeper and deeper. We’ve reached a point where only James and Davis can save us.

The front office would argue that James and Davis are the reason why the Lakers are in the situation they are, because they foolishly championed trading for Russell Westbrook and need to accept their share of blame.
While James and Davis do deserve some blame for Westbrook, it’s Rob Pelinka’s job as general manger to make the decision to trade for Russell Westbrook and Jeanie Buss’ job as owner to officially approve the move.

In the end, we’re reached the point where nobody but LeBron James and Anthony Davis can save this season. The Lakers superstars need to flex their power and force Rob Pelinka to trade Westbrook and the picks.

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Which Trade Targets Are Good Fits?

The Lakers should split their two picks up, using one pick to facilitate a Westbrook trade and the other to facilitate a Beverley, Nunn, and Jones trade. Ideally, the Lakers need to bring back at least four rotation payers.

Those four new Lakers players should include at least two new starters, a bigger 3&D wing to start at small forward and a point guard who can shoot the three, attack the rim, and distribute the ball without turning it over.
Starting small forward candidates include Bojan Bogdanovic, Kyle Kuzma, O.G. Anunoby, Eric Gordon, and DeMar DeRozan. Starting point guard candidates are Terry Rozier, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, and Fred VanVleet.

The Lakers also need a backup center who can start until Anthony Davis returns and then provide rim protection when AD is not in the game, and a backup 3&D small forward to give them two new defenders with size. 
Backup center candidates are Myles Turner, Mo Bamba, Jakob Poeltl, and Kristaps Porzingis. Backup small forward candidates are Cam Reddish, Doug McDermott, Saddiq Bey, Terrence Ross, and Otto Porter, Jr.

The key to saving the season is not just making trades but making smart trades. The Lakers must start with the principle they’re not going to give up a first round draft pick for any player(s) who aren’t good long-term fits.
That means only acquiring players who give us size, shooting, and defense and only accepting contracts that represent fair value and can be traded. The right package of players could transform the Lakers into contenders.

Team building about the draft, free agency, and trades. The Lakers did as good a job in the draft and free agency as was possible but we’ve always known the Lakers couldn’t build a winning team without trading Russ.

The best trade the Los Angeles Lakers could make right now to keep this season alive would be swapping Patrick Beverley, Kendrick Nunn, and Damian Jones to the Orlando Magic for Mo Bamba and Terrence Ross.

Not only would the trade give the Lakers a 3&D wing to start at small forward but also a floor stretching, rim protecting center to replace Anthony Davis in the short term and back him up when he returns.
With Ross starting at small forward and Bamba at center, the Lakers suddenly would add desperately needed size and shooting. The 7′ 0″ Mo Bamba shoots 39.0% while the 6′ 6″ Ross shoots 40.9% from deep.

Trading for Bamba and Ross filled both of the Lakers’ primary rotation holes. In fact, there may not be another trade that could net the Lakers a starting small forward and reserve center to fill in and then backup AD.

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Why Bamba and Ross?

The Lakers’ plan is to trade Beverley, Nunn, Jones, and a protected first round pick for a player(s) with a combined salary of around $20 million per year who can provide them with needed size, shooting, and defense.

The Lakers have long coveted Indiana Pacers’ center Myles Turner, who is on an expiring $18.0 million contract. Trading for Turner would require L.A. to extend Turner, who will likely demand over $20 million per year.
With Anthony Davis finally established as the Lakers’ starting center, the Lakers are unlikely to be willing to pay Turner $20–25 million per year when they’re already paying Anthony Davis $37.9 million per year.

Bamba earns only $10.3 million per year and is locked in a 2-year contract. That means he could fit financially as the Lakers’ backup center and has 2 years left on his contract so does not have to be extended this summer.
Talentwise, Bamba is a probably a poor man’s version of Myles Turner who can stretch the floor with his 3-point shooting and protect the rim with his shot blocking. Ross gives the Lakers a legitimate starting 3&D wing.

The alternative to the Bamba and Ross trade with the Magic is a Poeltl and McDermott trade with the Spurs. Like the Magic trade, the Spurs trade also gives the Lakers an affordable starting small forward and backup center.
Poeltl could be the better defender but his poor free throw shooting makes him a late game liability and eliminates the chance he could evolve into a modern stretch center. McDermott is not as good a 3&D wing as Ross.

In the end, the best package the Lakers can get for Beverley, Nunn, Jones, and a protected pick is Mo Bamba and Terrence Ross. That trade fills the Lakers top two rotation holes and gives them a chance to make the playoffs.

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What’s the Next Step?

The Lakers’ projected depth chart shows that Bamba and Ross are not only excellent fits with Anthony Davis out but also perfect complements once AD returns, giving the Lakers a rim protector for 48 minutes per game.

Moving Austin Reaves to the starting lineup is something Darvin Ham needs to do as soon as possible. Reaves has shown he has the moxie and confidence to hit this threes or attack the paint for floaters or fouls.
Austin is also the only Lakers player besides LeBron James and Anthony Davis to record a positive net rating for the season. LeBron is the Lakers point guard on offense and Reaves is their best perimeter defender.

With Mo Bamba starting at center, the Lakers’ starting lineup would measure 6′ 5′, 6′ 4″, 6′ 6″, 6′ 9″ 7′ 0″. Once Anthony Davis returns from injury, the Lakers’ starting lineup would then measure 6′ 5′, 6′ 4″, 6′ 6″, 6′ 9″ 7′ 0″.
The Lakers mat also play both Davis and Bamba at the same time, since Mo can space the floor from beyond the arc. And Coach Ham will likely stagger Anthony’s and Mo’s minutes to always have a rim protector on the court.

If the Lakers can fill their holes at starting small forward and backup center, then they will still have Russell Westbrook, Lonnie Walker IV, and their 2029 first round draft pick as available trading chips at the deadline.
Theoretically, the Lakers could still make a second bigger trade with Westbrook and the 2029 first round pick, which could bring back two or three better rotation players than the Lakers currently have.

Specific areas the Lakers should be looking to improve by trading Westbrook, Walker IV, and their 2029 pick include starting point guard, size on the wing, and a 20-points per game superstar shooting guard.