With Rookie head coach JJ Redick continuing to make all the right moves, the Los Angeles Lakers suddenly find themselves only a pair of upgraded starters short from becoming a legitimate NBA championship contender.
The Lakers need to replace starting point guard D’Angelo Russell with a point guard who can shoot threes and defend at a high level and starting wing Rui Hachimura with a shot blocking center who can play with AD.
With a current top-five offensive rating and bottom-five defensive rating, the Lakers desperately need to start elite individual defenders who can not only guard multiple positions but also hold their own on the offensive end.
The Boston Celtics faced the same challenge two years ago when they replaced a point guard and center combination of Marcus Smart and Robert Williams with a Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis combo.
Ironically, the leading candidates to replace D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura in an upgraded Lakers starting lineup are former Celtics All-Defensive point guard Marcus Smart and center Robert Williams III.
There’s no question that Boston’s addition of elite defensive point guard Jrue Holiday and stretch center Kristaps Porzingis were the major catalysts that propelled the Celtics to their league best 18th NBA championship.
The Lakers would be smart to emulate what the Celtics did to win and pursue their own defensive upgrades at point guard and center by trading for former elite Boston starters Marcus Smart and Robert Williams.
Let’s look at what the Lakers would have to give up to trade for Marcus Smart and Robert Williams, how each player would fit with the current roster, and what resulting starting lineup and rotation would look like.
Marcus Smart and Robert Williams Trade
The Lakers trade D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Maxwell Lewis, and 2029 and 2031 unprotected first round draft picks for POA point guard Marcus Smart and defensive center Robert Williams III.
Trade essentially moves two current starters in Russell and Hachimura, two non-rotation young bench players in JHS and Lewis, and two first round picks for Smart and Williams to upgrade team’s starting defense.
Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III are proven two-way players who represent major defensive upgrades over one-way players D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura. Lakers give up some offense for better defense.
The Lakers are obviously hoping point guard Marcus Smart and center Robert Williams successfully fill the same identical roles for them that point guard Jrue Holiday and center Kristaps Porzingis did for the Celtics.
Smart and Holiday are statistically similar point guards who can shoot the three and can shut down opposing teams’ top scorers while Williams and Porzingis are often injured big men who can be dominant when healthy.
Russell and Hachimura are not valuable enough to motivate the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers to trade Smart and Williams so the Lakers will likely need to include their unprotected 2029 and 2031 first round picks as sweeteners.
With LeBron James now slated to play just another two more years, the Los Angeles Lakers cannot afford to miss this opportunity to tie their nemises Boston Celtics and win their both 18th and 19th NBA championships.
Besides upgrading the starting lineup, the trade for Smart and Williams III also opens up roster spots to promote two-way players Koloko and Olivari to standard rotation contracts and save almost $9 million in salaries.
Marcus Smart Transforms Point of Attack
Marcus Smart gives the Lakers the desperately needed legitimate two-way point-of-attack point guard to fill the role that Jrue Holiday now plays for the Boston Celtics and Alex Caruso currently plays for the OKC Thunder.
Trading for Smart fills the Lakers’ need for an elite perimeter defensive guard to slow down opposing teams’ top scorers without having to sacrifice offensive firepower and desperately needed volume 3-point shooting.
Marcus Smart’s not only a better 1-on-1 and team defender than Cam Reddish or Jarred Vanderbilt but he’s also a proven point guard who can run the offense, make plays for teammates, and rain threes from deep.
Right now, Cam Reddish has done a respectable job replacing D’Angelo Russell and giveing the Lakers’ starting lineup an elite perimeter defender who can slow down or shut down opposing top guard and wing scorers.
Unfortunately, Reddish has not been able to contribute enough on the offensive side of the ball to justify his defensive contributions. In the Lakers’ last 5 games, Cam has generated a negative net rating of -12.7.
While there remains the possibility of Jarred Vanderbilt eventually replacing Reddish, it’s no certainty that Vando will be able to contribute enough offensively to justify starting him at guard for his defense.
In the end, the Lakers need to trade for an elite two-way player like Marcus Smart if they want to be serious contender to win an NBA championship in what will likely be the final two seasons of LeBron James career.
Most importantly, Marcus Smart gives the Lakers a quality replacement for D’Angelo Russell at point guard to reduce wear and tear on LeBron James while dramatically balancing the team’s perimeter offense and defense.
Robert Williams Unleashes Anthony Davis
While plagued by injuries, Robert Williams III gives the Lakers the second defensive big they need to pair in a two-bigs starting lineup with Anthony Davis and to replace AD as rim protector when he goes to bench to rest.
While Williams struggled with major injuries last season and only played in 4 games this season, he has legitimate elite DPOY defensive level talent and, if he can remain healthy, would give the Lakers 2 DPOY candidates.
Williams is currently averaging 12.0 points, 5.7 boards, 1.7 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 1.7 steals in just 18 minutes per game. Robert has 123.1 offensive rating (#1), 111.6 defensive rating (#7), and +11.4 net rating (#2).
While Williams doesn’t stretch the court like Porzingis, he’s able to defend all five positions at all three levels. He can block shots to protect the rim as well as switch onto smaller and quicker guards and wings on the perimeter.
Robert essentially gives the Lakers a slightly smaller version of Anthony Davis. Together, they can essentially put a lid on the basket. Staggered, they can provide the Lakers with 48 minutes of elite rim protection every game.
While Williams’ injury history is a major concern, especially if the Lakers are giving up an unprotected first round pick as compensation, his $12.4 million salary would be a major bargain for a team with salary issues.
With both Anthony Davis and LeBron James earning max contracts, the Lakers need to limit what they spend for the rest of their starting lineup and 9 or 10-man rotation. Williams is moderate risk, high reward player.
Williams would not only give the Lakers a second defensive big who can protect the rim and defend 1–5 on the perimeter but also guarantees the Lakers will have an elite rim protection for all 48 minutes of every game.
Lakers Post-Trade Depth Chart and Rotation
The biggest move the Lakers made last summer was to hire JJ Redick, who is quickly proving to be exactly what L.A. needed as their new head coach. Redick is committed to both transforming and modernizing the Lakers.
JJ has the Lakers off to their best start in years. LA currently has a 9–4 record for the season, is undefeated at home, has a 5-game winning streak, and now holds 4th place in the highly competitive Western Conference.
After playing with the starting lineup that made last season’s West Finals and going 1–4 on their first road trip, Redick replaced D’Angelo Russell with Cam Reddish in the starting lineup and the team has now won five straight.
Trading for Smart and Williams would enable the Lakers to dramatically improve their starting point guard and center and upgrade their defense to be top-5 championship caliber just like their current top-5 NBA offense.
Adding an elite point-of-attack defensive guard like Marcus Smart and a DPOY quality big like Robert Williams III simply transforms the Lakers two-bigs starting lineup into a torid offensive and defensive juggernaut.
The Lakers would now have a starting lineup of Smart, Reaves, James, Davis, Williams; a bench of Olivari, Christie, Knecht, Vanderbilt, Koloko; and a development group of Vincent, James Jr., Reddish, Wood, Hayes.
The beauty of the roster after trading for Smart and Williams is how deep the roster is at each of the five positions and how young the team is with LeBron James at 39 and Anthony Davis at 30 being the oldest players.
The Lakers’ 15-deep post-trade roster includes a championship caliber starting lineup, a dynamic bench that should be among the best in the league, and a group of reserves with great development potential.