Why Trading For The Right Players Matters More Than Winning Trade

Rob Pelinka’s master plan to wait until the February 6 trade deadline when teams get more desperate and prices drop is a strategic miscalculation that winning the trade is more important than ending up with the right players.

The problem with Pelinka’s strategy is three fold. First, waiting two more months will inevitably result in the Lakers having fewer quality trade options. That is exactly what we saw last summer and last trade deadline. Second, waiting until the deadline which is over two months away is just too long for the Lakers to wait to upgrade what is a play-in roster at best. Without help, the Lakers will have zero chances of making the playoffs.

Third and most importantly, waiting until early February to upgrade the roster assumes there will be an acceptable deal as the deadline approaches. We saw last summer and trade deadline what happens when you do this.
Right now, there are good options to trade for a starting defensive center to pair with Anthony Davis and defensive point guard to pair with Dalton Knecht. There’s no guarantee those options will be available in February.

The teams that win trades are always the teams that trade for the right playes. The Lakers’ problems are that Pelinka lost his confidence in the wake of the Westbrook trade and realizes his next trade could be his last.
The result has been a consistent strategy of moving the goalposts and making promises he will ultimately fail to keep. First it was the new CBA. Now it’s Vando’s injury that’s responsible for Lakers not making a trade.

In the end, Rob Pelinka’s failure to upgrade the roster and fix obvious recurring problems related to size and defense have put the Lakers in a critical position. Time to refocus on making sure we get the right players.

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The Art of Picking the Right Players

Rob Pelinka and the Lakers need to fully embrace JJ Redick’s vision for this team and aggressively trade for an elite defensive starting center to pair with Anthony Davis and lock-down POA guard to pair with Dalton Knecht.

The Lakers have the draft capital (2 first round picks, 2 first round pick swaps, and 3 second round picks) and $52.5 million in matching salaries (Russell, Hachimura, Vincent, Hood-Schifino, Lewis) to make the trades.
The only question is whether the Lakers have the will and courage pull off the needed trades to transform the roster into championship caliber and give LeBron James and Anthony Davis the help they need to win it all.

Right now, Pelinka needs to grow some cajones and provide the Lakers with a legitimate starting-quality shot-blocking center to pair with Davis and a point-of-attack defensive perimeter point guard to pair with Knecht.
The Lakers can trade for the right candidates to fill both of those needs right now. It will likely cost them both picks but will give them a legitimate championship caliber starting lineup and a deep and talented rotation.

The Lakers should trade for two new starters and move two current starters to the bench. Starting-quality centers to pair with Davis include Robert Williams III, Walker Kessler, Myles Turner, Brook Lopez, and Nic Claxton.
Finding a starting-quality two-way point guard is a tougher challenge for the Lakers. Starting defense-first two-way point guards to pair with Dalton Knecht include Marcus Smart, Lonzo Ball, and Dennis Schroder.

Bottom line, Pelinka needs to go all-in to transform this roster into a championship team. To do that, he must prioritize trading for the defense-first starting center and point guard who would most raise Lakers’ ceiling.

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Affect on Trades of LeBron’s Struggles

Basketball pundits seem to believe LeBron James’ recent struggles may lead Rob Pelinka and the Lakers to keep their picks rather than going all-in to win another championship before the King calls it quits and retires.

Alternatively, LeBron’s struggles could motivate the Lakers to become even more aggressive with Pelinka using their existing draft capital right now to pull off a blockbuster trade for a superstar point guard to replace James.
The logic behind the Lakers doing this is the likelihood next season will be James final season and superstar point guards Trae Young, LaMelo Ball, and De’Aaron Fox just might be available right now in a blockbuster trade.

The Lakers have always been able to play a wide range of different players at point guard because LeBron James is usually the primary playmaker with the ball in his hands when the team is on offense in the half court.
With next season likely to be James’ final season, there is a greater priority for the Lakers to take advantage of opportunity to trade for his superstar playmaking replacement right now rather than waiting until next summer.

With 2 first round picks, 2 first round pick swaps, 3 second round picks, $52.5 million in matching salaries of 5 tradable players, the Lakers clearly have the needed components to put together a pair of blockbuster moves.
Visions of LeBron struggling and the league getting younger are more likely to motivate the Lakers to try to replace the King sooner than later. Reality is JJ Redick cannot build a championship team without a great point guard.

The right players for the Lakers to trade for are a new starting center to pair with Anthony Davis and a new starting point guard to pair with Dalton Knecht and replace LeBron James as one of the team’s two superstars.