Rob Pelinka and the Lakers may have an opportunity to pull off a pair of blockbuster trades and steal a pair of elite second-tier star players from potential dumpster fire sales by the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz.
Right now, the Lakers need to go all-in to upgrade the starting positions held by D’Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince if they want to be a legitimate contender to prevail and win their 18th NBA championship this season. The Lakers’ primary targets to replace D’Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince in their starting lineup should be the Grizzlies Marcus Smart on or after December 15 and the Jazz’ Lauri Markkanen on or after January 15.
While the Lakers are off to a relatively good start despite not having their full 14-man roster healthy and available to play, they already have a good idea of their major weaknesses and what they need to do to get better.
Despite a deep and diverse roster, the Lakers still need a viable long-term two-way point guard to replace D’Angelo Russell and a high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter to add firepower to their starting lineup.
Complicating the situation for the Lakers, LeBron James will soon be 39-years old and there’s no guarantee at this point he’s going to exercise his player option and play next season. He could leave as a free agent or retire.
While that is probably unlikely considering how well the King is playing, the Lakers know the clock is ticking and, at some point soon, they’re going to have to replace LeBron James despite how irreplaceable he will be.
Let’s look at the what it would take for L.A. to pull off a pair of blockbuster trades for the Grizzlies’ Marcus Smart and Jazz’ Lauri Markkanen that could transform the purple and gold from a contender to an NBA champion.
TRADE 1: DEC 15 — MARCUS SMART AND JOHN KONCHAR
The first blockbuster trade the Lakers should pursue on or after December 15 would send D’Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and their 2030 first round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for Marcus Smart and John Konchar.
The Memphis Grizzlies are a mess. They’re currently 14th in the West with 6–17 record and zero chance of making the playoffs even with Ja Morant returning to play. They should love a Lakers’ post-LeBron pick for Smart.
For the Lakers, while they valued Russell’s scoring and playmaking, in the end, they simply did not believe he could be the starting point guard on a championship team. They believe Smart is a better player and better fit.
The Lakers saw what adding Jrue Holiday did to the Bucks and Celtics defenses and believe replacing D’Angelo Russell with Marcus Smart will make the Lakers a more dangerous team both offensively and defensively.
Realistically, this trade for Smart will have to be paired with a second trade come January 15 that addresses the Lakers’ pressing need for a third star and volume 3-point shooter to upgrade the offense of their starting lineup.
The starting lineup of Smart, Reddish, Prince, James, and Davis has the potential to be a defensive juggernaut. Hopefully, Vincent will stay healthy and help Vanderbilt give a strong defensive identity to the second unit.
In Marcus Smart, the Lakers get their long term solution at point guard and a player whose heart and energy are contagious. Pairing him with Cam Reddish could give Los Angeles the best defensive backcourt in the league. Importantly, the Lakers still maintained a 12-man rotation, which give them some valuable insurance against future injuries. Considering our history and how many players get injured, consolidating could be risky.
As the Lakers have to wait until Hachimura is eligible to be traded, they will be forced to rely on their championship defense and domination in the paint and at on the line to continue to carry them until January 15.
TRADE 2: JAN 15 — LAURI MARKKANEN AND KELLY OLYNYK
The second blockbuster trade the Lakers should make on or after January 15 would send Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and what’s essentially three unprotected first rounders to Utah for Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk.
The Lakers already owe the Jazz their 2027 first round pick unless it’s one of the top four picks but could remove that protection so that the pick was essentially now a completely unprotected post-LeBron first round pick.
The Lakers could also include first round pick swaps for 2028 and 2029, which combined with the 2027 pick would essentially give the Jazz L.A.’s unprotected post-LeBron first round draft picks for 2027, 2028, and 2029.
Frankly, three post-LeBron unprotected first round picks could be the kind of offer it would take to convince Danny Ainge to trade Lauri Markkanen, who at 27-years old is now the closest thing Utah has to a franchise player.
Not insignificantly, Danny Ainge could also be the only NBA shot caller likely to still be on the job when the Lakers 2027 and 2029 first round draft picks will actually be made. He knows those picks could be top-5 picks.
The starting lineup of Smart, Reddish, Markkanen, James, and Davis could be the best in the entire NBA with an offensive ‘Big Three’ of James, Davis, and Markkanen and a defensive ‘Big Three’ of Davis, Smart, and Reddish.
Markkanen may not be a superstar but he is the perfect fit as a third star and floor stretching volume 3-point shooting forward the Los Angeles Lakers desperately need to balance their defense-first starting lineup.
This season, Lauri is averaging 23.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 33.5 minutes per game shooting 48.7% from the field, 39.0% from deep on 8.5 attempts per game, and 82.9% from the line on 5 free throws per game.
His size will also finally allow the Lakers to play the two-bigs lineups they envisioned and preferred at the start of the season before both Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes failed to play good enough defense to win the job.