Lakers News: NBA Experts Wonder How Long L.A. Should Hold On To Trade Pieces
The biggest question heading into the offseason for your Los Angeles Lakers was: will L.A. hold onto Russell Westbrook and his insane $47.1 million expiring contract, or will it make the right call and trade the point guard, and some draft equity, to improve the team? With Westbrook seemingly staying on a roster filthy with similarly past-their-prime veteran point guard options, the question heading into the preseason for your Los Angeles Lakers remains exactly the same.
In a new conversation today, ESPN reporters Ohm Youngmisuk and Dave McMenamin discussed the state of the Lakers' potential trade options with the preseason set to commence tomorrow against the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
"I'm of the opinion that they already should've made a move," McMenamin astutely noted. "They could've traded one first-round pick last year at the trade deadline, and they would've had John Wall on their team. And the Clippers wouldn't look as they're looking this year either."
Of course, had the Lakers traded one old ex-All-Star for another, more injury-prone one who could be a better on-court fit, they would still be saddled with Wall's prohibitively pricey maximum-salaried expiring contract this season. Though Westbrook's contract this summer is equally bloated, the prospective pieces L.A. could still theoretically get back in a trade (most likely from the Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs or perhaps the Charlotte Hornets) would help equip L.A. with further depth than a one-for-one deal along the lines of this Wall trade.
"They could've traded two first-round picks [their 2027 and 2029 first-round selections, which could quite possibly slide into the lottery] to the Utah Jazz this summer and had Mike Conley on their team and Bojan Bogdanovic on their team and not had Russell Westbrook on their team," McMenamin continued. Conley, who turns 35 in October, is yet another ex-All-Star on a hefty deal well past his glory days, but he can at least still knock down a three-point shot (he made 40.8% of his 5.8 threes a game) and make the right playmaking decisions late in the shot clock. The biggest risk with the 6'1" point guard is his health: as has proven to be the case more often than not in recent seasons, Conley was playing through an injury at the end of the 2021-22 season.
Bogdanovic would have been the standout addition in a Jazz deal. Among the team's remaining veteran pieces, Jarred Vanderbilt, Lauri Markkanen, Malik Beasley, and Jordan Clarkson would all seem to better suit Los Angeles than Conley. "Now I don't think the Utah deal is so much on the table," McMenamin cautioned.
"Will Indiana come off their stance of wanting two first-round picks when they recognize that maybe their season is not going so well... and getting an asset like that 2027 or 2029 first-round pick when the Lakers could be in the rebuild and it's a lottery pick?" McMenamin wondered.
"Quite frankly, and this is strange of me to say, but they may be better off playing this thing out and keeping the first-round picks, signing guys in free agency this upcoming summer to replace the money that you're paying Russell Westbrook right now, and then on top of that using the picks to try to find something [in a trade]." That would be a total waste of All-NBA small forward LeBron James in his 20th NBA season. There is no guarantee that James can remain one of the league's best players that far into the future. If recent practice footage is any indication, it does seem like James he can still at least rack up points this season, but just punting on the season feels unnecessarily wasteful. L.A. should relieve itself of both first-round picks to get a deal done, ideally with the Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.
"I feel like Rob [Pelinka] is going to wait and see what the Lakers do," Youngmisuk responded. "I think he wants to see, 'If we get out to a big start and come December, [the] Lakers are doing 10 games above .500 or something like that, and we look like we're in contention, then maybe we make that move and add Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.'" By the way, given the team's current personnel, the club's fall schedule, and the level of competition in the Western Conference, there is absolutely no way this happens. This is a bit of a catch-22 approach, as adding players at the caliber of Turner and Hield could very possibly get Los Angeles to a margin of success at the level he's talking about. But without them, they will flounder.
"I understand where Rob's coming from: 'Let's hold onto as little assets as we have, because we haven't in the past, and see where that goes," Youngmisuk said.
