Aloha
Thinking about moves this summer, I’m wondering how much we can do with Russ and his expiring contract if he continues to struggle. Oh we can probably move him, using our 2 first rounders but I’m not so sure we can get enough value back to matter. The pipe dream of course is Brogdon and Buddy. While I will never say never after the trade the Trailblazers made with the Clippers, I will say it is highly unlikely. If Brogdon goes on the market, he will draw a lot of interest from other teams, especially the Knicks who can give the Pacers young players and picks. Just dumping Russ with picks would be a disaster.
So what is my ideal summer outcome, considering our limited assets? Well, the Pistons were asking for 2 first rounders for Grant. As soon as the season ends, I would contact the Pistons to see if they would consider the 2 picks and THT for Grant. THT has been up and down this year but has been trending more up than down lately and last night he looked like he has recovered from that nagging ankle sprain he’s been dealing with. If he continues to raise his level of play, the Pistons just might be interested.
At that point I would waive and stretch Russ. It would give of enough room to sign Malik. So in a way those two picks lands us both Grant and Malik. This would leave us with a starting line up of Reeves, Malik, LeBron, AD and Grant. As long as LeBron plays for the Lakers we don’t need a traditional ball dominate PG. That hasn’t worked yet, and won’t work in the future. Malik has shown enough playmaking ability to take the load off LeBron.
And remember we won a ring without a starting PG. Just 2 defensive minded shooting guards.
We could have a bench of Nunn, who will probably opt in, Stanley, hopefully Melo, and perhaps Gabriel. With the tight money this year, there will be some talent that will float down to us. For instance, Damien Jones will be a free agent. He would be a nice get as a back up big. We just need a couple of guys that can contribute off the bench.
Is this a championship roster if we are healthy? Probably not. Still I think it is best the best we can do with the assets we have. Sure one can come up with trades on the trade machine but those don’t happen. I try to stay realistic. And with a couple of decent free agents and health, you never know. I actually like this better than a Brogdon/Buddy deal with the way Malik has been coming on. I think he has a lot of ceiling left. He also shoots the 3 like Buddy but makes plays and defends. Something Buddy doesn’t do. And Grant gives us a young defender with size, something we need much more than a PG in a LeBron centric offense. If we use our picks with the Pacers, Malik is likely gone. Malik and Grant are a better duo than Brogdon and Buddy.
Good post, Michael. Ironically, I don’t think Russ’ play will have much impact. His value at this point is his expiring contract, not his game.
OPTION 3
I also am warming to the idea of using the picks to add rather remove players, which means using a buyout and then waive and stretch of Russ to be able to use the cap savings to pay Monk the full $10M MLE to keep him even though we would be hard capped. Then use the 2 picks to go after Jerami Grant, as you suggested.
Only issue would then be no point guard, although working with Klutch we might see John Wall work a buyout and sign with the Lakers for maybe the BAE to fill the point guard role.
PG – WALL
SG – MONK
SF – GRANT
PF – JAMES
CE – DAVIS
…
OPTION 2
The perfect scenario for me is obviously still the Pacers. Lakers would give up both picks, Russ, THT, and Johnson for Turner, Hield, and Brogdon. No increase in salary or luxury taxes.
PG – BROGDON
SG – HIELD
SF – JAMES
PF – DAVIS
CE – TURNER
…
OPTION 3
Other scenario where I would give up both picks would be if we could get the Rockets to give us Wood, Gordon, and Wall in return, which would require Jeanie to incur major luxury taxes.
PG – WALL
SG – MONK
SF – JAMES
PF – DAVIS
CE – WOOD
…
At any rate, it clearly is going to be critical decision time for the Lakers front office. Just hope we can somehow avoid the chaos and dysfunction and make the right moves.
Pacers should be #1 target and Rockets #2 target to get three starters. If they don’t bite, then #3 is W&S Russ so we can pay and keep Monk and go for Grant with kitchen sink and both picks and hope Wall can work buyout and join Klutch/Lakers team.
Three very possible options that would work.
There’s also an interesting dynamic surrounding the Rockets trade since John Wall is a Klutch client. First, it’s obvious the Lakers are through with Russ and his stubborn refusal to change his game. Second, both sides want to move forward with LeBron signing a two-year extension.
Committing to trading Russ and pieces and both picks to Houston for Wood, Gordon, and Wall could become the favorite option for the Lakers. They get a great starting lineup with a quality point guard in Wall, great two-way shooting guard in Gordon, and potential third star down the road in Wood.
I know you would prefer trading everything for Grant and then waiving and stretching Russ to keep Monk. I like that scenario too and Grant is a great fit. Still leaves us at least one and maybe two starters short. Hope Rob can pull something good off. We’re going to need it.
If LeBron James decides that fellow Klutch Sports client John Wall could be a better fit and is willing to push extremely hard for Westbrook’s exit, the Lakers might consider a deal with the Houston Rockets.
https://fadeawayworld.net/nba-media/if-lebron-james-decides-to-gives-up-on-russell-westbrook-the-lakers-could-trade-for-john-wall
First Tom I do not believe we can get as much as you think we can. I view the Pacers deal as unlikely and I certainly do not believe they would throw Turner into the deal forTHT. Turner is 25 and fits with the other young players. They would now have to find a center. They made their choice and it was Turner. As for the need for a point guard, I don’t think we need one, at least a starter. LeBron ran the Heat. Wade adjusted to playing off the ball. Kyrie did the same. They both had the skill set to play more as a shooting guard. Wall doesn’t have that skill set. It would almost be like trading Russ for Russ. Wall is the same as Russ, a ball dominate guard that made his name with freakish athleticism. That’s gone. Like Russ, he can’t shoot either. .317 lifetime from 3 and he is not known for being a defender either. as far as Gordon, he is okay but he will be 34. i watched him, he wasn’t hurting us. it was the young guys that hurt us. as for Wood, that move require Lebron to defend the 3. This is where LeBron has aged. He cant defend the perimeter any more. Grant who is a much better player than Wood is a much better fit.
i firmly belive that Monk right now is better than either Gordon or Wall. Gordon does shoot .408 from 3 to Maliks .399. Not a big deal. but Monk is much more Athletic, has a better handle, can make plays for others and is defending his ass off. Grant is a perfect fit at the 3. so there are your 2 to 3 starters. I would start, Reeves as the other guard. He would be the perfect glue guy. A strong defender that can do a little bit of everything. A starting line up of Monk, Reeves, Grant, AD and Lebron we be a stronger line up on both sides of the ball. Plus, Lebron would be the only starter over 30. and as we have seen this year, that matters.
Aloha, Michael,
I’m a huge fan of Monk’s but …
(1) He’s not a point guard and we need a point guard to reduce load on Bron imo.
(2) He’s not anywhere near the defensive player or proven clutch shooter that Eric Gordon is.
That’s not to say we might be fine with Malik as our starting shooting guard. I would just prefer him as our 6th man killing off the bench.
Same with Reaves. He could start but we’re so much better if he comes off the bench.
Our problem right now is the bench sucks. That’s why we need three new starters so Monk and Reaves come off the bench.
Even as an expiring I now question what return a Westbrook trade could yield. Better option for both parties might be a W&S. Russ can choose his next home and the Lakers get the tools they need toner-sign MM while creating an artificial spending ceiling.
As much as we all hated seeing Deng in the salary list, there’s a good argument to use the 2 picks to add two starters rather than remove Russ. The bonus of being able to offer Monk the full MLE and being able to save luxury taxes could tilt us in this direction.
Need to first make sure we can’t end up with Turner, Hield, and Brogdon or Wood, Gordon, and Wall. I think both of those will be stronger and more versatile teams. Having said that, I would be happy if we could get Grant but we still need three starters.
Hard to see Indy trading MT now since Sabonis was shipped. Feels like they want to build a team with him at the 5, Brogdon is a different topic but Indy would need to get a ‘Wow!’ offer to move Myles now. He’s still on a fairly cheap deal. Westbrook does nothing for them, as well. They got better guards already. They don’t do rebuilds and they don’t need cap space since no worthy FA signs there.
We’ll see. The appeal of Westbrook for Indiana is getting out of over $100M in contracts for Russ’ expiring $47M. They were still taking offers for Turner after trading Sabonis. They’re not going to rebuild around him. Already did that and didn’t win. They may value two post-LeBron unprotected first round picks.
They may. Likely will wait until the deadline next season when he’ll be expiring and can do a trade and extend or whatever. I’m not saying it’s impossible just unlikely. Team’s like Indy don’t need to work as hard as the Lakers to clear space, and again for whom? They’re not likely going to sign LaVine this summer or any other top tier free agent. I’m still a hard No on Wall unless he’s willing to conduct a private workout, maybe gets an MRI so the team can see what he truly has left. Players who need speed don’t age well, just look at Russ. Speed goes down just a tad and suddenly less lift, no blow by power, and so on. Honestly would rather just do a re-do on Russ then bring in Wall but would (sorta) trust the team’s judgement if Wall did a workout