Lakerholics

The Lakers have not only learned how to win without one of their two superstars but also how to steal games when both of their superstars are not in the lineup as they did last night in their upset of the Miami Heat.

Now 17–21 and riding a 3-game winning streak, the Los Angeles Lakers are 12th in the West only 1.0 game out of 10th seed and the Play-In Tournament and just 3.5 games out of 5th seed and a guaranteed spot in the playoffs.
With the West wide open, the Lakers have a golden opportunity to go all-in and make critical trades to give a dominant LeBron James and MVP level Anthony Davis the opportunity to lead the Los Angeles to their 18th title.

Here are three straightforward trades the Lakers should pursue to acquire a 3&D wing to start at small forward, a point guard who can shoot and take care of the ball, and depth in the form of three high quality bench players.

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1. Detroit Pistons Beverley/Nunn Trade

The Lakers give up their 2027 first round pick unprotected to get a pair of legitimate 3&D wings to start and backup the small forward position. Both Bogdanovic and Bey are big physical players who can shoot and defend.

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2. Utah Jazz Russell Westbrook Trade

The Lakers give up 2029 pick unprotected for a trio of players from the Utah Jazz. Conley gives Lakers starting point guard who can shoot and take care of the ball while Clarkson and Olynyk add shooting off the bench.

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3. New York Knicks Lonnie Walker Trade

The Lakers give up Lonnie Walker IV, whom they would not be able to re-sign next summer, and a second round pick for Cam Reddish. Trade makes sure Lakers don’t lose Walker for nothing like they did Monk last year.

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4. Lakers Depth Chart After Three Trades

With LeBron James still dominating and Anthony Davis playing like MVP and DPOY, the Lakers starting lineup and primary reserves could be among the best in the league. This is a championship roster from top to bottom.

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5. Lakers Salary Cap This Summer

While the Lakers used their 2027 and 2029 first round picks, they transformed their roster into a contender and positioned themselves with over $70 million in tradeable contracts other than James and Davis.

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6. Lakers Must Act When Opportunity Knocks

The Lakers are fortunate to still be this close with both James and Davis missing time due to injuries but they must act now while the opportunity is there to make the trades to transform them into legitimate contenders.

The Lakers would like to keep both picks to pursue a third superstar next summer. Their superstars would like to see them trade both picks for more size and shooting. The logical compromise could be a one-pick trade.

Let’s be clear from the start, the Los Angeles Lakers are not going to write off this season and cause irrevocable damage to their long-term alliance with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rich Paul, and Klutch Sports Group.
Those hoping this would signal the unraveling of the relationship between the Lakers and LeBron James will be as disappointed as failed suitors who were hoping the secret love-of-their-lives was going to ask for a divorce.

The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James are essentially a married couple. LeBron is going to retire in purple and gold and the Lakers are going to honor him with the same royal treatment as Kobe Bryant.
While there’s a conflict over whether or not to trade the picks, the partners will simply work out a compromise to keep everybody happy and the marriage intact, which is exactly what’s probably going to happen here.

Here are five reasons why LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers must reach a compromise that will enable the front office keep one of the two picks as a future trading chip but trade the other to upgrade the roster.

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Reason 1: LeBron James’ Recent Play!

LeBron James’ recent MVP level play and season long display of athleticism never before seen by a 38-year old NBA player confirms Dennis Schröder’s comments that James believes he could actually play until he’s 45-years old.

Lakers VPBO Rob Pelinka specifically promised LeBron James the Lakers would do everything they could, including trading the two picks, to give the King a legitimate opportunity to win another championship this season.
While a promise is a promise, injuries to Davis and James have changed the landscape and it’s not unreasonable for Pelinka and the Lakers to want to keep draft capital this summer. Agreeing to trade one pick seems logical.

It’s one thing for the Los Angeles Lakers to consider tearing this team down, trading their superstars, and completely rebuilding if LeBron James were on his last legs and Anthony Davis was unable stay on the court.
But it’s lunacy to do this when LeBron James at 38-years old is playing at an elite MVP level and all signs appear to signal that he’s going to be the NBA’s version of Tom Brady, who can still be an impactful superstar at age 45.

The Lakers and LeBron would be fools not to recognize he still has multiple seasons of All-Star level play and multiple potential championships in his bag and saving one pick to give them two picks this summer is important.

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Reason 2: Anthony Davis’ Recent Play!

While LeBron pummeled Father Time with a pair of 40-point games, let’s not forget the good news that Anthony Davis worrisome foot injury is now rapidly healing with AD’s return projected sometime in mid January.

The latest news was Davis was scheduled for an MRI when the team got back from the road trip that just ended on Monday. Hopefully, that MRI will look good and Davis can start ramping up to return the court in January.
Needless to say, LeBron will have to continue to carry the load for the Lakers until Anthony Davis returns. Hopefully, that will be the middle of January when the Lakers will have been able to even their record at .500.

Frankly, the prospect of a Lakers team with a healthy, motivated LeBron James still dominating Father Time and a healthy, driven Anthony Davis playing like the MVP and DPOY is a nightmare for the rest of the NBA.
We know how important time off was to Anthony Davis’s great play in the bubble so having him get a month off in the middle of the season could be a bonus for the Lakers as he will be fresher and healthier for playoffs.

Now that Anthony Davis has shown he can take the torch from LeBron James as the best player on the planet, the Lakers need to agree to a compromise one-pick trade to give James and Davis a shot at #18.

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Reason 3: The West Is Wide Open!

The third reason the Lakers and LeBron need to agree to a compromise one-pick trade is the West is wide open and 13th seed Los Angeles is only 1 loss away from the Play-In Tournament and 3 losses from the playoffs.

Assuming LeBron James and the Lakers can improve their record to close to .500 by the middle of January and get a healthy Anthony Davis back near the same time, they should still have a realistic shot at making the playoffs.
LeBron has the 16–21 Lakers on a 2-game win streak with 6 games left through January 15th: Miami and Atlanta at home, then Sacramento and Denver on the road, followed by Dallas and Philadelphia at home.

Assuming the LeBron James can carry the Lakers over the next 6 games and Anthony Davis will be back close to the middle of January, the Lakers could find themselves in perfect position for a stretch run on January 15.
With or without a trade, the Lakers will hopefully have enough firepower with AD back to start moving up the standings, passing teams in the Play-In Tournament until they lock up a spot among the Top-6 teams in the West.

Ultimately, the Lakers are likely at this point to wait until the last minute to make their compromise one-pick trade hoping they will be able to get a better return for one pick by waiting until January 115 trade deadline.

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Reason 4: The Pelicans’ Pick Swap!

The fourth reason the Lakers and LeBron need to work out a one-pick trade compromise is the Lakers may owe their 2023 first round draft pick to the New Orleans Pelicans due to a pick swap from the Anthony Davis trade.

Were the season to end today, the Lakers would be tied with the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors for the 7th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft while the New Orleans Pelicans are projected to have the 24th pick in the draft.
In that scenario, the Pelicans would swap picks with the Lakers, getting the #7 pick and a 26% chance of a Top-4 pick while the Lakers would pick #24. The Lakers would love to move up to the Top-6 to limit the Pelicans’ pick.

The irony of the looming Pelicans’ 2023 pick swap resulting in the Lakers missing out on a generational talent has contributed to Pelinka’s reluctance to give up L.A.’s 2027 and 2029 first round draft picks without protection.
It almost seems as if Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office has lost their confidence and are almost as afraid of making another monumental mistake that could cost the Lakers another decade of lottery basketball.

The very last thing the Los Angeles Lakers want to happen is to finish so low that the New Orleans Pelicans end up winning the rights to draft Victor Wembanyama. Compromising on a one-pick trade would help prevent that.

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Reason 5: The Celtics Threat to #18!

Just like the Pelicans’ pick swap, the Boston Celtics emergence as potential favorites to win the 2023 NBA championship should be strong motivation for the Los Angeles Lakers to make a one-pick swap for a shot to win #18.

The Lakers 2020 Championship in the bubble finally enabled Los Angeles to pull even with the Boston Celtics as the only NBA teams who have won 17 championships. Allowing the Celtics to get to #18 first is unacceptable.
With LeBron James still dominant and Anthony Davis playing like the MVP, the Lakers cannot cede the 2023 NBA championship to the Boston Celtics. They need a one-pick trade to upgrade their starting lineup and rotation.

Even adding a single elite player like Bojan Bogdanovic or O.G. Anunoby could dramatically improve the quality of the Lakers roster and allow L.A. to surround James and Davis with more size, shooting, and defense.
Ideally, the matchup the basketball world wants to see in the 2023 NBA Finals is the Los Angeles Lakers against the Boston Celtics, with the winner becoming the only team in the league with 18 NBA championships.

The Lakers need to pull off a blockbuster one-pick trade to upgrade their starting lineup and rotation and give a dominant LeBron James and MVP level Anthony Davis a chance to beat the Celtics head-to-head for #18.

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.