Lakers Post-Trade Deadline Q&A:
— Recapping LA's deadline (and past month-plus)
— The current roster
— The projected starting lineup and rotation
— Mark Williams' fit
— The buyout market and moreWatch: https://t.co/QjgVR0DK6b pic.twitter.com/42aowgc5Ca
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) February 6, 2025
Jovan Buha on Lakers Trade Deadline Performance
By 
February 6, 2025 2 Comments
From above article:
1. Starters: Luka, Austin, Rui, LeBron, Mark
2. Top Nine: Do, Gabe, Vando, Jax
3. Mark Williams trade: B+/A-
4. Issues: Not great defender, injury prone
5. Trade Deadline: A+
Honestly, the William’s trade wows me less by the hour. We gave up a lightning-in-a-bottle shooter…with upside across the board…for a project center who is tall and can’t defend when we already have one of those. I get that the move was made to appease/welcome Luka but we’re not the Thunder with draft picks falling out of our ears.
At any rate, it allows us to let Wood and Hayes walk this summer and, depending on what DFS does, we could be pretty capped out and may need to work a trade using Kleber and Shake. Kleber’s an interesting one. Makes Vando money but isn’t good at, well, anything at all. Never averaged 10 points, never averaged 6 rebounds, never averaged a steal or a block or an assist for an entire season and hasn’t played many games since signing his extension a couple years ago. Just is big and performed well enough in a contract year to get this deal, which expires after next season ($11 million). If LBJ and DFS pick up their options we’ll be at $191 mil. This season’s 2nd apron was $190 million so don’t expect a lot of free agency signings so trading the $14 mil that represents Shake and Max (if not adding on Rui, Austin or Vando) is really the only move we can make.
Now, if LeBron retires this summer that’s a whole other story but I’m counting on him playing until he says otherwise. He makes $52 mil (player option) and so, once that money comes off the books organically it represents a lot of opportunity. For now though, it does not.
At any rate I give the trade deadline moves an A-, this would be better if I feel like we didn’t kind of overpay for William’s whom I think largely replicates what Hayes brings but with a richer injury history. It looks like he’s questionable for upcoming games due to a variety of foot and leg injuries but if he can stay on the court for the rest of the season we’ll be able to better evaluate his impact. If he fits in seamlessly the grade could tick up but I’m happy with the A minus.