Lakerholics

The Los Angeles Lakers’ play last month has been so dominant with or without AD or Luka that the latest NBA power rankings has them ranked as the second best team in the West and the fourth best team in the league.

With a 34–21 record and fresh off a 123–100 demolition of their long-time nemesis Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers currently are the 4th seed in the West 1 loss ahead of 5th and 1 loss behind the 2nd and 3rd seeds. With 27 games left in the Lakers’ regular season, the Luka Doncic trade not only gives Los Angeles a 25-year old superstar to eventually replace 40-year old LeBron James but also a legitimate shot at winning the title this year.

The past offseason and first half of the regular season have seen an unlikely and unexpected series of events transform the Los Angeles Lakers from a franchise stuck in the past to a franchise primed for the future.
Starting with the inspired hiring of young JJ Redick as their next great head coach, the Lakers transformed their destiny with a pair of savvy trades for elite 3&D wing Dorian Finney-Smith and top-3 superstar stud Luka Doncic.

While Rob Pelinka was building a championship roster, Lakers’ rookie head coach JJ Redick was busy putting into work a lifetime of creative ideas on how best to teach players to love and win playing the game the right way.
The results so far have been impressive, especially on the defensive end where the Lakers have surprised everybody by actually becoming a better defensive team today than they were before they traded Anthony Davis.

Despite Davis leaving, Doncic arriving, and Williams trade being rescinded, the Lakers under JJ Redick have not missed a beat, dominating opponents and showing everybody they may already have their championship roster.

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What Are Lakers’ Chances to Win NBA Championship This Season?

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Winning an NBA championship has become excruciatingly challenging. It not only demands multiple career years from the team’s best players but also the blessing of the basketball gods in the form of a healthy roster.

While most analysts didn’t believe L.A. could compete for a championship this season after rescinding the blockbuster trade for Hornets’ center Mark Williams, the Lakers to a man still believe they can win the title this year.
Their thorough thrashing last Saturday night in Denver of their nemesis Nuggets, who’d won an impressive 9 straight games, was just the Lakers’ most recent display of what could already be their championship roster.

Right now, the Lakers are probably healthier than anytime during the last two years with the only player on the injured list being Maxi Kleber, whom the Lakers are hoping will be able to return sometime during the playoffs.
The only question now is whether this remarkable Lakers team can really continue to play like a top-tier NBA team despite its obvious weakness at center, where young Jaxson Hayes has been overperforming expectations.

It’s unbelievable that the Lakers without Anthony Davis could be a better defensive team than they were with AD, but JJ has found how to optimize their speed, smarts, length, and athleticism in a brilliant team defense.
Barring trades, 10 players will return next year — LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Gabe Vincent, Dorian Finney-Smith, Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, Bronny James.

If JJ Redick and the red-hot Los Angeles Lakers continue to dominate the rest of the season like a top-tier team at both ends of the court, they should have a realistic opportunity to win their 18th NBA championship this year.

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What Trade and Free Agency Moves Will Lakers Make This Summer?

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While teams can never have enough 3&D wings or POA guards, the Lakers’ greatest offseason priority will be re-sign free agents LeBron James and Dorian Finney-Smith and trade for a center in addition to Jaxson Hayes.

L.A. should have no problems re-signing LeBron James and Dorian Finney-Smith. Ironically, the Lakers’ greatest threat to steal DFS in free agency this summer were the Mavs due to his close relationship with Luka Doncic.
The Lakers also have four unrestricted free agents. They will surely re-sign young center Jaxson Hayes to long-term contract but will likely allow Cam Reddish, Markieff Morris, and Alex Len to walk away in free agency.

The expectation is that LeBron James may take less in his new contract to enable the Lakers to use both the $13.5 million NT MLE and $4.9 million BAE to sign two non-minimum free agent players to upgrade the roster.
While the Lakers do not have a first round pick this summer, they do have a pair of second round picks. Theoretically, the Lakers could add a pair of players via free agency and a pair of players via the draft this summer.

The Lakers’ single biggest need this summer will be to trade for at least one and maybe even two additional center to bolster the depth and versatility of the position. Right now, center position is the Lakers’ greatest weakness.
Myles Turner would be the perfect two-way center and Nic Claxton the ideal mobile defensive center but would cost rotation players and picks while Walker Kessler or Kelly Olynyk would be less costly but good fits.

Unlike last summer, Rob Pelinka has the Los Angeles Lakers perfectly positioned with multiple expiring contracts and available draft capital to dramatically upgrade what may already be an NBA championship roster.

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What Superstar Will Lakers Target When LeBron Decides to Retire?

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The big question for the Lakers is whether the trade for Luka and the recent championship caliber play of the team offensively and defensively has given 40-year old LeBron James a desire to play several more years.

There’s no question with the arrival of Luka Doncic that neither the Los Angeles Lakers or LeBron James himself will have a problem passing the baton to the franchise’s brand new 25-year old international superstar.
As he recovers from his latest unfortunate injury, that’s something that will surely not go unnoticed by Anthony Davis, who spent six years alongside LeBron James but could never seem to fully take the baton from the King.

While I believe they do understand the halcyon days of three superstars has truly gone, the Lakers are like an addict when it comes to big name superstars. You can never fully trust them to turn down a big name.
What everybody seems to fortunately forget is how much LeBron still means to this team and what his chameleon-like ability to change skillsets depending upon what the Lakers need has become their cheat code.

Five years ago, the Lakers had a championship roster they stupidly did not keep together. This time, Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, and the Lakers must do a better job valuing the championship roster that they may already have.
That’s why besides chasing superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant, the Lakers should focus on younger players who would not require the team to give up their hard fought championship depth and versatility.

The Lakers would be smart to trade for a player whose age, position, and skill sets would elevate and upgrade an already championship roster. Ideally, the Lakers should trade for a player like Naz Reid or Myles Turner.

Rookie head coach JJ Redick could jumpstart the Lakers stretch run by making four critical changes to his starting lineup and rotation before rather than after tonight’s prime time matchup against the Denver Nuggets.

The Lakers can’t count that adding Luka Doncic will be enough to offset losing Anthony Davis and Max Christie or erase the mental edge the Denver Nuggets have used to dominate the Los Angeles Lakers for several years. Redick would be smart to get ahead of the curve and make the likely changes another beat down by Denver tonight would demand before the game to give his team a chance to pull off an upset and end the curse.

Right now, it’s obvious to everybody but Redick that the Lakers need more defense in the starting lineup and more offense off the bench for his 10-man rotation to work. It’s also obvious Alex Len is a poor fit next to Luka.
Frankly, a big part of the problem is JJ is still trying to walk the tight rope of integrating a ball dominant superstar in Luka Doncic without alienating LeBron James, Austin Reaves, or any of the Lakers’ other current starters.

What JJ needs to remember is there are now only 29 games remaining in this season and the Lakers have already slipped to 5th with Luka still, at best, multiple games away from being fully healthy and ready to dominate.
JJ has no games or time to waste. There are obvious moves to make that would not only help the team but also send a message to Luka that the Lakers are his team and the coach is making the moves to support that.

Let’s look at the four lineup changes JJ Redick needs to make for the Lakers to become Luka’s team and how their new starting lineup and rotation give them their best chance to upset their nemesis Denver Nuggets tonight.

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1. Start Finney-Smith Over Hachimura

Starting Dorian Finney-Smith over Rui Hachimura is the most important roster move JJ could make before tonight’s game against the Nuggets. DFS is the Lakers’ best defensive player and starting lineup needs him.

The Lakers also are under pressure to sign Dorian Finney-Smith to an extension or possibly lose him to free agency this summer. Even more importantly, Finney-Smith is a player Luka Doncic loves playing with.
The Lakers would be smart to promote Dorian Finney-Smith to be a starter and then to give him a new contract commensurate with the value he has brought to the team at both ends of the court. Keeping DFS is top priority.

While Rui Hachimura has done a fine job starting, he is not the individual or team defender that Dorian Finney-Smith is and the Lakers desperately need to upgrade the defense of their starting lineup. Starting DFS is step 1.
The change not only adds Finney-Smith’s valuable defense to the starting lineup but also Hachimura’s volume offense to the non-starting lineups. Rui should be even more dominant offensively against second stringers.

Over the last 15 games, Finney-Smith has averaged 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.2 blocks in 26.7 minutes per game while shooting 50.0% from the field, 39.6% from three, and 100.0% from the line.
During that same 15-game stretch, Dorian posted a team best 100.3 defensive rating and +19.3 net rating. Dorian has simply been the Lakers’ best role player during the last 15 games and deserves to be the starter.

Right now, Redick is playing Hachimura around 5 minutes per game more than Finney-Smith. Starting DFS and moving Hachimura to the bench will correct that imbalance and give valuable Finney-Smith needed minutes.

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2. Start Gabe Vincent Over Austin Reaves

The Lakers also need to start Gabe Vincent over Austin Reaves because he’s a better fit defensively next to Luka Doncic at shooting guard and AR’s elite shot-making and playmaking would be a better fit coming off the bench.

This is a very difficult personnel decision to make but one that must be made for the good of the team and for the future of Austin Reaves. Defensively, the Lakers simply cannot start Doncic, James, and Reaves.
Even with James now playing some of the best defense we’ve seen from him in years and Reaves making a valiant effort, the Lakers cannot win the NBA championship starting three players who are defensively challenged.

The Lakers need better offense/defense balance in their starting lineup and Austin Reaves needs a role where he can focus more on making shots and plays and not wearing himself out defending the other team’s top scorer.
Coming off the bench, Austin Reaves will be able to get more touches and opportunities playing alongside just one of LeBron James or Luka Doncic rather than trying to fit in as the third option after the two superstars.

JJ Redick needs to remember that the Lakers are now Luka Doncic’s team and as soon as he is physically and mentally ready to take over the offense, he’s going to need to have the ball in his hands whenever he’s in the game.
Frankly, there are not going to be enough touches left for two other point guards and playing Doncic, James, and Reaves together is not only not a smart plan defensively but is also just too many point guards for one ball.

Now healthy, Gabe has become one of the Lakers most trusted defenders and 3-point shooters, averaging 8.9 points, 1.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists in 22.7 minutes per game, shooting 38.2% from three with a 105.3 defensive rating.

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3. Play Christian Koloko Over Alex Len

The Lakers also need to give Christian Koloko the backup center minutes allocated to Alex Len because Luka Doncic needs more vertical lob threats like Jaxson Hayes. Koloko would give Luka another vertical lob target.

While the Lakers plan to play a lot of small ball to compensate for the lack of positional centers on the roster, they need to give Koloko an opportunity to play the minutes given to Len. He’s clearly a better lob threat than Len.
Given a chance, I think Koloko could justify being promoted from two-way to standard contract so he would be eligible for the playoffs. The Lakers have until the last day of the season to make a decision on Christian.

The Lakers must do everything possible to ensure that Luka signs an extension before August 2nd. Knowing how important having vertical lob threats are to Luka’s game, the Lakers need to see what Koloko can do.
A legitimate 7-footer, Christian is the only other player on the Lakers’ roster who has the talent and tools to be an effective vertical lob threat for Luka. Koloko needs an opportunity to see how he fits as Hayes’ possible backup.

The remaining 29 games are going to be critical for the Lakers to figure out how best to optimize Luka Doncic with their current roster to have a shot to win their 18th championship while LeBron is still playing like a superstar.
JJ Redick would be smart both in the short and long term to give any backup center minutes to young Christian Koloko rather than veteran Alex Len because he’s a better fit for what Doncic likes offensively in a center.

The Lakers need to make sure to do everything they can to give Luka players who complement what he does best and cover for his weaknesses. Right now, Christian Koloko could be another vertical lob threat for Luka.

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4. Two Point Guards In Every Lineup

The best way the Lakers can take advantage of having three elite starting quality point guards in Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves is by staggering them to ensure that two of the three are on the court at all times.

By moving Austin Reaves to the bench as the team’s 6th man, JJ Redick has made it easier to create a starting lineup and 10-man rotation where he will have Luka/LeBron, Luka/Reaves, or LeBron/Reaves on the court all game.
Building intelligent lineups that work is easy when every lineup created is anchored by an elite point guard duo that includes one of the team’s two superstars. Just add three needed shooters, rebounders, and defenders.

If JJ wants high scoring offense, then surround Luka/LeBron, Luka/Reaves, or LeBron/Reaves with dead-eye 3-point shooters. If he wants elite defense, then surround them with a trio of Vanderbilt, Finney-Smith, and Vincent.
Now that the Lakers are close to being 100% healthy, their lineups have become much more versatile with better balance of offense and defense. Most importantly, JJ now has tools to help at both ends of the court.

One of the goals JJ Redick needs to ace over the next 29 games is fixing the starting lineup and 10-man rotation he is going to utilize to win games in the playoffs. Frankly, the playoffs start right now for teams in the West.
Having three starting quality point guards is actually a gigantic benefit for the Lakers but only if they figure out how to take advantage of all three. Having two of the three on the court all the time is the optimum option.

Breaking the Lakers’ Big Three point guards into three distinct pairs of playmakers is the smartest scheme to optimize the elite shot-making and playmaking skills of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves.

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5. Lakers’ New Starting Lineup & Rotation

Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent give the Lakers’ starting lineup a dramatic upgrade defensively while Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Christian Koloko give the team’s bench a major upgrade offensively.

The Lakers starters include Luka Doncic, Gabe Vincent, Dorian Finney-Smith, LeBron James, and Jaxson Hayes with backups of Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Christian Koloko.
JJ Redick’s four lineup changes transformed the Lakers. By upgrading the starting lineup’s defense and the bench’s offense, the Lakers now have excellent offensive and defensive balance throughout their rotation.

The Lakers’ new defense-first starting lineup is essentially Luka Doncic surrounded by four of the Lakers’ five best individual defensive players in Gabe Vincent, Dorian Finney-Smith, LeBron James, and Jaxson Hayes.
Teams that try to switch-hunt Luka Doncic will suddenly find themselves scrambling in chaos as Lakers’ new starting defense aggressively attacks by trapping, doubling, and rotating whenever teams try to switch-hunt.

Over the next 29 games, the Lakers’ starters plus Reaves and Hachimura will likely average 30 minutes per game or 210 of the 240 minutes in the game, leaving just 30 minutes for the team’s three other rotation players.
While Redick will look to rest his top seven players, Doncic, James, Finney-Smith, Vincent, Hayes, Reaves, and Hachimura should play 85 to 90% of the available minutes and Knecht, Vanderbilt, and Koloko just 15 to 20%.

JJ Redick knows he just has 29 games to get the team ready for the playoffs. He also knows today’s game is a critical measuring stick for the Lakers. JJ needs to go bold and make the needed lineup changes before today’s game.

After Anthony Davis’ initial injury and before Luka Doncic’s trade, JJ Redick had already implemented a series of strategy changes that would magically transform the Lakers’ pre-Luka offense and defense into top-5 juggernauts.

The Lakers were already top-5 offense and defense before trading for Luka. During the 5 wins after Davis’ injury, the Lakers’ 125.9 offensive rating was #3, their 106.4 defensive rating #3, and their +19.5 net rating #2 in the NBA. The 25-year old Euro superstar Luka Doncic is without question the best possible LeBron James clone the Lakers could have hoped to be able to get. Like always, the Lakers somehow miraculously found their next legend.

For Lakers fans, this offseason has been a 4-ring drama circus that opened with the JJ Redick/Dan Hurley act, followed by the DLO/DFS trade, then the AD/Luka trade, and closed with the rescinded Knecht/Williams trade.
All this noise has overshadowed and hid how much better the Lakers have been playing on both sides of the ball starting last January and peaking during the 5-game win streak after AD injury and before trading for Luka.

Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers have won 6 straight games, 9 of their last 10 games, 12 of their last 14 games, and are essentially tied with the Denver Nuggets for 3rd place in the West with just 19 losses against their 32 wins.
The Lakers are clearly the hottest team in the NBA. They led by more than 20 points in 9 of last 11 games. Over last 6 games, the Lakers were #1 in league in Team FG%, Team 3P%, Opponent FG%, and Opponent 3P%.

Let’s take a closer look at the key strategic changes JJ Redick made to the Lakers’ offense and defense to catapult them to top-5 status, transform them into juggernauts, and prepare them for playing with Luka Doncic.

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Embracing 3-Point Shot & Vertical Spacing

JJ Redick knew when Anthony Davis left the Sixers game that it might have been his last game for the Lakers and that it was now time to start running a new double point guard offense with LeBron James and Austin Reaves.

While the Lakers had enjoyed success using an offense built with Anthony Davis as its hub, there was an unrequired desire by the front office to play faster and shoot more threes than they could do with a Davis hub offense.
Redick’s offense had already been emphasizing elite playmaking and shot making so he immediately started running his double point guard offense with Austin Reaves playing the role of Luka Doncic next to LeBron James.

Over the last 6 games, the Los Angeles Lakers have simply been the hottest team in the NBA, leading the league by shooting 54.1% from the field and 41.6% from deep, both the highest shooting percentages in the entire NBA.
They’ve been blowing opposing teams out, averaging close to 30 assists per game, and simply shooting lights out from everywhere on the court. Over the last 6 games, every single role player on the Lakers had a positive +/-.

While trading Davis exacerbated the Lakers thin center rotation, Hayes and an array of speedy and lethal small ball lineups featuring LeBron, DFS, and Vando playing the five have Los Angeles rocking and rolling on offense.
There are no better switch hunting offensive geniuses in this league than LeBron James and Anthony Davis and the Lakers will have at least one of these generational superstars on the floor for all 48 minutes of every game.

The NBA has never seen a Playmaking Big Three like LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves. They will open and close games with all three and stagger and have at least two of them on the court for all 48 minutes.

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Building Elite Defense Around Luka Doncic

Knowing his superstar rim protector was likely gone, Redick had to figure out not only how to replace AD but also how to upgrade a defense that had not been elite even with Davis and also had several huntable defenders.

While switch-hunting will be a major offensive strategy by LeBron and Luka, avoiding switch-hunting has to be a major objective of Redick’s new defensive strategy, especially if he is starting LeBron, Luka and Reaves.
The Lakers new defensive strategy calls for more trapping and doubling rather than switching, especially when opposing scorers are hunting a weak defender, and trusting their ability to make timely smart rotations.

During the Lakers current 6-game win streak, we’ve seen this strategy work beautifully against the Knicks’ Brunson and Towns, Clippers’ Harden and Leonard, Warriors’ Curry and Hield, and Pacers’ Haliburton and Siakam.
Over the last 6 games, the Lakers used this new defensive strategy to force opposing offenses to shoot an NBA second worst 41.0% from the field and NBA worst 29.5% from deep and to post a 3rd best 106.2 defensive rating.

The beauty of the new strategy is it replaces the passive switch-everything approach Redick tried out earlier in the season with a legitimate alpha-dog aggressive approach that focuses on team rather than individual defense.
It’s a system that demands more energy, communication, and rapport by everybody on defense, which is something that also takes advantage of the continuity the Lakers have built by retaining most of their rotation players.

The Lakers anti-switch-hunting defense is a better match for the mentality and skill sets of the Lakers’ rotation players and is a perfect match for their new high speed, 3-point and vertical spaced double point guard offense.

Despite cancelling the Mark Williams trade, the top-5 offense and defense Redick has the Lakers playing without AD during this 5-game win streak is a blueprint not only to survive but to thrive and still win a championship.

While the everybody online was worrying whether Luka would fit with LeBron and what L.A. would do now that Mark Williams failed his physical, JJ Redick suddenly has the Lakers playing championship level basketball. Right now, the Lakers have won 5 in a row and are playing their best basketball of the season, displaying legitimate top-5 NBA offense and defense, without AD and just Jaxson Hayes and a duo of two-way centers.

Frankly, the Lakers have played so well at both ends during this 5-game stretch that not having to integrate a new center in Williams at the same time as a new superstar in Doncic could be end up being a positive move.
One of the strengths of the current roster and reasons why the Lakers are playing so well right now is their roster continuity. Trading Knecht for Williams was a trade specifically designed to retain the current rotation.

What’s clear from the way the Lakers are playing right now is JJ Redick is coming into his own as an elite head coach. To a man, this team has bought into how JJ wants them to play and the results have been sensational.
After the loss to the Nets where AD was injured, the Lakers suddenly like an entirely different team. They’re sharing the ball and raining threes on offense and doubling, challenging, and rotating on a string on defense.

What’s behind the Lakers’ sudden elite performance over the last 5 games? Offensively, they’ve suddenly starting to share the ball like JJ wants and were #1 in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage the last 5 games.
Defensively, the Lakers without AD are playing like a legitimate top-5 team. They’re doubling and trapping pick-and-rolls and and rotating like a team on a string. #1 in opponent field goal and 3-point percentage last 5 games.

The Lakers’ 5-game win streak is the perfect blueprint for how the Lakers win the NBA championship: Offensively, post highest field goal and 3-point percentages. Defensively, post lowest field goal and 3-point percentages.

With Davis likely to be out until after the All-Star break, the Los Angeles Lakers need to stop searching for the ‘best’ deal and focus instead on offers for Turner or Kessler the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz cannot refuse.

Myles Turner and Walker Kessler are clearly the two center trade targets who would be the best fits as starting fives alongside Anthony Davis in a two-bigs lineup that could transform the Laker’ championship aspirations. The challenge facing the Lakers is they’re likely going to have to overpay to get Turner or Kessler. They’re going to have to make an offer that is so good the Pacers and Jazz have no option but to accept the Lakers’ offer.

While the Lakers claim Davis’ injury is not serious enough to change their trade deadline plans, the simple reality is that the Lakers are likely to miss Anthony Davis until teams return from the All-Star break on February 19th.
The Lakers are currently still 5th in the West with a 26–19 record but will face a challenge to prevent sliding into and out of the play-in tournament as they will struggle to survive the next 7 games without Anthony Davis.

The Lakers need make a trade for Myles Turner or Walker Kessler right now. Every day Rob Pelinka waits hoping for a better deal just increases the odds that the Lakers will surely miss out on the ‘right’ players by waiting.
Without AD, the Lakers will be lucky to go 3–4 the next 7 games, leaving them at 29–23 and #7 seed. Going 2–5 would plunge them to 28–24 and #9 seed and going 1–6 would leave them at 27–25 and out of play-in at #11.

The Lakers must get serious and go all-in with offers the Pacers and Jazz simple cannot turn down. They have enough draft capital to make a trade with both the Pacers and the Jazz. They just need the will and courage.

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The Myles Turner Trade

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The Lakers should offer the Pacers the contracts of Rui Hachimura and Jalen Hood-Schifino plus their unprotected 2029 first round pick, 2030 first round pick swap, and 2031 unprotected first round pick for Myles Turner.

Long coveted by the Lakers, Myles Turner is the perfect modern two-way stretch five center to play alongside of and backup Anthony Davis when he goes to the bench. Time may have finally come for the Lakers to get Turner.
There’s no question Myles is probably the best possible fit as a second big next to AD. While the Lakers have chosen to pass on trading for Turner in the past because he was not a ‘superstar,’ the timing right now is perfect.

The Indiana Pacers would have no option other than to accept the Lakers offer of three post-LeBron James unprotected first round picks for Turner. The Lakers post-LeBron picks would be the gold standard of draft capital.
L.A. would also have no problem expanding the trade to other NBA teams. Indiana could turn around and use the 2030 pick swap to expand the trade to include Portland and Robert Williams III or Toronto and Jacob Poeltl.

The Lakers could add other players like Lonzo Ball or Bruce Brown to the trade to address their need for better point-of-attack perimeter defense and to replace D’Angelo Russell’s volume 3-point shooting and elite playmaking.
Both Ball or Brown could likely be acquired for the Lakers two available second round picks and would immediately help improve their perimeter defense and upgrade their overall team speed, size, and athleticism.

The Lakers need to stop searching for ‘best’ deal and make the Pacers an offer for Myles Turner that includes three shots at a #1 draft pick via L.A.’s 2029, 2030, and 2031 post-LeBron James unprotected first round picks.

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The Walker Kessler Trade

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The Lakers should offer the Jazz the contracts of Jackson Hayes and Cam Reddish plus their 2029 unprotected first round pick, 2031 unprotected first round pick, and eliminate protection from their 2027 first round pick.

A dynamic young center, 23-year old Walker Kessler is the perfect bruising defensive center to play alongside of and backup Anthony Davis when he goes to the bench. Kessler’s youth and rookie contract are huge pluses.
While Kessler cannot space the floor like Turner, his overall upside due to his young age, cheap rookie contract, and low trade cost in matching salaries make him the best option for the lakers to pursue financially.

The Utah Jazz should have no option other than to accept the Lakers offer of essentially three post-LeBron James unprotected first round picks for Kessler. Utah would have the Lakers unprotected 2027,2029, and 2031 firsts.
L.A. would also have no problem expanding the trade to other NBA teams. Danny Ainge would love to add the Lakers post-LeBron unprotected first round picks to his unprotected post-Kevin Durant 2031 first round pick.

One of the big benefits of trading for Walker Kessler is he would not require the contract or contracts of any rotation players, which means the Lakers would have all their tradable contracts available for a second move.
That second move for a point-of-attack perimeter defender like Lonzo Ball or Bruce Brown would be easier to make after a Kessler trade than a Turner trade, which would force the Lakers to move Vincent and Vanderbilt

The Lakers need to stop searching for ‘best’ deal and make the Jazz an offer for Walker Kessler that includes three shots at a #1 draft pick via L.A.’s 2027, 2029, and 2031 post-LeBron James unprotected first round picks.