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Andre Drummond

Laker Trade Deadline Plans Revealed: Drummond In, Gasol and Harrell Out!

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Multiple NBA cognoscenti have confirmed centers Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell have been put on the trading block, which means Andre Drummond has agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers once his Cavs’ buyout is complete.

While the timing could still be tricky, there’s no way the Lakers would be shopping the only two centers on their roster unless they were completely confident Andre Drummond was going to be available and sign with them. While nothing is certain until all the contracts are signed, it appears the Lakers are looking to go all-in on revamping their roster in the wake of the recent ankle injury that’s likely going to keep LeBron James our for weeks.

In addition to Gasol and Harrell, reports confirm the Lakers have also been shopping starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who signed a 3-year extension this offseason but has been mired in a horrendous slump. While Gasol’s and KCP’s trade values have plummeted, Montrezl Harrell’s value as a trading chip has never been higher as he’s expanded his game at both ends of the court and will be in line for a major raise in free agency.

The big question now is what will Rob Pelinka to be able to acquire in trade for Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to help the Lakers both until LeBron and AD return and to repeat as NBA champions? Assuming Drummond solves the starting center rim protection issues, the Lakers’ top priority short term has to be a true lead or point guard to run the offense and make plays for teammates until LeBron James returns.

Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol represent $23.8 million in potential outgoing salary. Since the Lakers are only $2 million below the hard cap, they can bring back $25.8 million in salary. With the Lakers looking for a true point guard and extension talks with Schroder possibly stalled, it’s not impossible the Lakers might be willing to include Dennis’ $15.5 million salary to pursue a player like Kyle Lowry.

Dennis Schroder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol to the Raptors for Kyle Lowry might be a real possibility. Lowry and Drummond could keep the Lakers winning in the short term until LeBron and AD can come back. The Lakers could then trade Harrell, Matthews, McKinnie, and Dudley to the Hornets for Terry Rozier. Lowry and Rozier would be give the Lakers a dramatically upgraded backcourt with two volume 3-point shooters.

The Lakers would not only be able to thrive in the short term but would be better positioned to repeat as NBA champions with a starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Terry Rozier, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Andre Drummond. They’d also have a strong bench and deep roster by keeping Talen Horton-Tucker, Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma, and Markieff Morris to back up the guard and forward positions and re-signing Damian Jones to backup center.

These are, of course, just two of the options Rob Pelinka and the Lakers might be considering. They would be smart to be looking at Lonzo Ball at point guard and Bogdan Bogdanovic and Victor Oladipo at shooting guard. The one thing that seems certain is the Lakers appear to have reached an agreement in principle with Andre Drummond and have now put Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol on the trading block.

And that is great news for Lakers fans as it show that Rob Pelinka realizes they simply cannot stand pat in the wake of LeBron’s injury. Instead, they must embrace this as a chance to rebuild the roster short and long term. While you never want to see a superstar player suffer an injury, this could turn out to be a blessing for the Lakers. The silver lining could be LeBron getting needed time off and the Lakers getting a roster building mulligan.

There’s nothing more exciting than NBA free agency and the trade deadline. Rob Pelinka has an opportunity to turn what appeared to be disaster that threatened the Lakers championship hopes into a brilliant transformation.

Do the Lakers Need to Rethink What They Need from the Center Position?

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In retrospect, the Lakers need to rethink what they need from the center position because signing JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard, Marc Gasol, and Montrezl Harrell as the team’s centers the past two years was a mistake.

The Lakers should look at Anthony Davis, their prototype modern center who can shoot threes or attack the rim on offense and protect the rim or guard the perimeter on defense, to see what they need from their centers. What the defense-first Lakers don’t need are old school low post defensive or offensive centers who can’t stretch the floor with 3-point shooting or play the trapping, doubling, and rotating championship defense the team plays.

JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard proved to be unplayable against most opponents in the playoffs last year as they lacked the mobility, speed, and quickness the Lakers needed to trap, switch and defend on the perimeter. Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell face a similar fate in the playoffs this year as their inability to block shots and protect the rim leaves them vulnerable to being played off the court defensively despite their value on offense.

The problem is the Lakers don’t appear to have learned from their mistakes picking centers the last two seasons as they are now supposedly pursuing centers who’ll solve rim protection issues but be unplayable in the playoffs. The Lakers need to trade for a starting center like Myles Turner or Nerlens Noel rather than settling for another team’s discards like Andre Drummond or Hassan Whiteside who can solve one problem but then create another.

Drummond and Whiteside might be able to help hold down the fort for the three to five weeks until Anthony Davis returns but both have the same perimeter defensive liabilities that ultimately doomed McGee and Howard. Signing one of them is like applying a band aid to a badly broken bone. After Anthony Davis’s recent injury scare, there’s no way the Lakers want to see him again playing 50% of his time at center come this year’s playoffs.

Myles Turner and Nerlens Noel are two trade candidates who are talented and young enough to be permanent rather than temporary solutions to the Lakers’ need to find a center to complement and protect Anthony Davis. Both are top-five rim protectors who are younger than Anthony Davis and have the physicality, athleticism, and toughness to protect him from having to defend bigger bruising centers like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

Besides being top-five shot blockers, Turner and Noel have diverse offensive or defensive skill sets that set them apart from limited one dimensional centers like McGee, Howard, Gasol, Harrell, Drummond, and Whiteside. Turner is the prototype modern offensive center who can shoot the three and throw down lobs while Noel is the prototype modern defensive center who can both protect the rim and switch onto and defend smaller players.

In short, they simply can’t be played off the court defensively in the playoffs like the old school centers the Lakers signed over the last two years or are looking at from the buyout market, which is why they’re worth trading for. While it’s always difficult to break up a top-ranked defensive team, the Lakers know they will need a better rim protector in the playoffs than Gasol or Harrell or adding Drummond of Whiteside will be able to provide.

Defending their championship against the Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz, or Brooklyn Nets will be a tougher challenge than the Lakers had to face in the bubble against the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and Miami Heat. The Lakers need a solution to their center conundrum that works in the regular season and the playoffs. Andre Drummond, Hassan Whiteside, or some other candidate from the buyout market is not the right answer.

The Lakers would be smart to trade for Myles Turner or Nerlens Noel to permanently solve their rim protection issues, add a young starting center to protect AD, and double down on their championship caliber defense.