Three Players Who Transform Lakers Into Legitimate Championship Team

The Los Angeles Lakers must go-all in on a blockbuster trade before the deadline because they won’t have many more, if any, seasons like this left where both LeBron James and Anthony Davis are healthy and thriving.

The Lakers understand that the roster they’ve built around superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis has seriously flaws. They need better point-of-attack defense, 3-point shooting, and backup rim protection.
L.A.’s’ top options to fix their perimeter defense, long range shooting, and rim defense when AD rests are 3&D point guard Dejounte Murray, volume 3-point shooter Bogdan Bogdanovic, and defensive center Nic Claxton.

Strategically, the Lakers don’t have coveted mid-sized or large expiring contracts to trade, which means young players with upside like Austin Reaves and Max Christy or first round picks and swaps are their chips.
Since there will probably be more buyers than sellers at the trade deadline, the Lakers best trade strategy should be hold onto Reaves and Christie but give up their 2029 or 2030 first round pick plus a couple of pick swaps.

While it always seems like the Lakers’ chips are undervalued while their trade targets overvalued, Pelinka got great value for the pieces he moved last trade deadline so hopefully he’ll be able to repeat that strategy again.
The Lakers are counting on Rob Pelinka being able to replicate his trade deadline magic from last season and somehow, someway pull off a mega trade for Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Nic Claxton.

Let’s take a look at what a trade for Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Nic Claxton could look like, what their roles on the Lakers would be, and how each could individually help the Lakers win the championship.

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Lakers, Hawks, & Nets 3-Team Trade

The Lakers trade a package of D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Jalen Hood-Schifino, their protected 2029 pick, and 2028 and 2030 pick swaps for Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Nic Claxton.

Dejounte Murray gives the Lakers the speedy and athletic point-of-attack defender they need to transform their perimeter defense while Bogdanovic fills their need for an elite high volume, high percentage 3-point specialist.
Claxton gives the Lakers an elite rim protector and athletic dunker who could start alongside Anthony Davis in a two-bigs starting lineup and/or anchor the team defensively whenever Davis goes to the bench to rest.

The blockbuster trade gives the Lakers their new 3&D backcourt of the future with Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic, a major upgrade offensively and defensively over D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves.
The trade improves the Lakers by adding three rotation players, including two upgraded starters, while losing just two rotation players in Russell and Hachimura, since Hood-Schifino and Vincent have been non-factors.

Most importantly, the trade goes a long way towards fixing the Lakers three major issues: point-of-attack defense, 3-point shooting, and rim protection when Davis is on the bench, without sacrificing roster depth or diversity.
Imagine Lakers’ starting lineup of Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Jarred Vanderbilt, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis, backed up by Austin Reaves, Max Christie, Taurean Prince, Christin Wood, and Nix Claxton.

While costing Russell and Hachimura, one of next summer’s three picks, and two of the team’s six potential pick swaps, the trade would transform the Lakers from a play-in squad to a legitimate championship caliber team.

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Dejounte Murray, Point Guard of Future

The key player in the 7-player trade between the Lakers, Hawks, and Nets is without question Dejounte Murray, whom Los Angeles is hoping will have a breakout season and become the team’s two-way point guard of the future.

The Lakers are hoping Dejounte, freed from having to share the ball with Trae, will enjoy a season like his final season with the Spurs when he was the primary point guard and won NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors. Murray averaged 21.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 9.2 assists, and 2.0 steals in 34.8 minutes per game that season, was traded to the Hawks for filler and 3 first round picks, and then signed a 4-year $114 million extension with Atlanta.

While he’s maintained his shot attempts and points per game playing with Trae, Dejounte’s rebounds and assists per game have declined from 8.3 and 9.2 per game when with the Spurs to 5.1 and 5.2 per game with the Hawks.
The Lakers hope Dejounte Murray’s game will be unleashed by not having to share the ball with Trae Young in the same way that Tyrese Haliburton’s game was unleashed by not having to share the ball with De’Aaron Fox.

While there are concerns that Dejounte’s defense may have regressed while playing for the Hawks and that his dramatically improved 3-point shooting this season may not be sustainable, L.A. still believes Murray’s the answer.
The challenge will be convincing the Hawks to give up Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic without receiving Austin Reaves as part of return. I’m hoping Pelinka can somehow get the Hawks to agree to the deal.

With the recent injury news about Jarred Vanderbilt, the pressure on the Lakers to trade for Dejounte Murray is only going to increase as they now desperately need an elite point-of-attack defender to be a legit contender.

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Bogdan Bogdanovic, Volume #3-Point Shooter

Bogdan Bogdanovic is the perfect high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter to give the Lakers the 3 or 4 made threes per game they need to reduce their 10-points per game negative 3-point shooting differential.

Despite ranking 14th in the league with a 36.9% percentage from deep, the Lakers still rank 30th or dead last in the league with just 30.7 attempted threes per game and 28th in the league with 10.8 made threes per game.
The Lakers problem is they simply do not take enough 3-point attempts per game to make enough 3-point shots to keep pace with their opponents. Instead, the try to offset poor shooting with paint points and free throws.

What the Lakers need are players who take 8 to 10 threes per game and make 3 to 4 of them. Bogdanovic currently makes 3.2 out of 8.4 threes taken per game (both more than anybody on Lakers) for a 37.5% clip.
Add those stats to Murray’s 2.3 makes out of 6.2 takes for 37.6% and Lakers’ new backcourt makes 5.5 threes out of 14.6 attempts for 37.5% vs. 4.3 makes out of 10.9 attempts for 39.4% for Russell and Reaves combined.

That’s 1.2 made threes per game or 3.6 points. Were the Lakers to increase their made threes per game from its current 11.3 per game to 12.5 per game, they would jump from 28th to 15th in the league in made threes.
Having just one high volume 3-point shooter like Bogdan could cut the Lakers’ usual 10-point per game negative 3-point shooting differential in half and eliminate a lot of those losses because Lakers cannot shoot.

The Lakers can transform their winning blueprint by adding a proven high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter like Bogdan Bogdanovic who can cut their 10-point per game negative 3-point shooting differential in half.

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Nic Claxton, Rim Attacker and Protector

Word that Brooklyn is willing to consider trading center Nic Claxton could be the news the Lakers were waiting to hear as the Nets’ defensive center is exactly what the Lakers need a second big to play with and backup AD.

Claxton is 24-year old, 5-year veteran center averaging 12.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 2.1 blocks, and 0.7 steals in 29.8 minutes per game. Nic could start alongside Anthony Davis or back him up off the bench.
Nic’s 6′ 11″ and 215 lbs would give the Lakers another elite defensive big to help them deal with teams with jumbo big centers like the Nuggets with Jokic, Celtics with Porzingis, 76ers with Embiid, and Bucks with Lopez.

Having a second elite rim protector would allow Lakers’ coach Darvin Ham to have a proven quality shot blocker on the court all 48 minutes of a game, Right now, the Lakers leak points in the paint like water when Davis sits.
Having Claxton to anchor the defense when AD is on the bench should be a major upgrade over Christian Wood or Jaxson Hayes. It will enable Wood to focus on continuing to be the Lakers stretch big when they need spacing.

Rebounding is the other area where Nic Claxton will be extremely valuable. Having a second big who can average double-digit rebounds can only help the Lakers generate more dominant offense and defense in the paint.
Claxton’s 3.0 offensive rebounds per game will also be a big factor as well his ability to throw down monster dunks and create highlight reel blocks to thrill and excite his teammates. Nic’s sure to become a Lakers fan favorite.

While the Lakers major need was to upgrade their offense, choosing Claxton over a stretch center like Kelly Olynyk would essentially be the Lakers doubling down on defense being the team’s primary identity.