Lakers News: Was L.A. Only Willing To Trade Its First-Round Picks For Kyrie Irving And Donovan Mitchell?
Does the Los Angeles Lakers front office only want to trade its two first-round picks for All-Stars it knows from TV?
No one (except... Patrick Beverley?) wants Russell Westbrook to be a Laker when the 2022-23 season opens in October. Not even Russell Westbrook.
So why is it looking increasingly more likely that such an unfortunate scenario will come to pass?
It sure sounds like the Lakers could be narrow-mindedly hoarding their biggest remaining draft chips waiting for a very specific kind of return.
ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported on a recent Media Day edition of his colleague Brian Windhorst's podcast The Hoop Collective that sources inform him Los Angeles would have been willing to offload both draft its 2027 and 2029 first-round draft picks for a return of now-Cavaliers All-Star Donovan Mitchell or Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving.
If the implication that only trading Russell Westbrook and those picks for an All-Star would be enough for Los Angeles, that is absolutely insane. Irving, first of all, cannot be relied upon to actually suit up for his team on a consistent basis. His offense can still wow (although it was pretty darn pedestrian in the Nets' four-game sweep at the hands of the Celtics outside of one good game), but his defense has gotten significantly worse and more reckless through the years. Beyond Irving's frequent leaves of absence from his teams, the 30-year-old's health also can't be counted on. The seven-time All-Star last played in more than 54 regular season games during the 2018-19 season, when he was a Celtic.
At this point in their careers, Mitchell is a better, more durable player. As a 6'1" shooting guard (albeit with a 6'10" wingspan), Mitchell will probably always be somewhat limited on defense, but it certainly seemed like his effort on that end could be ramped up when he's more engaged in the cause, as seems likely to happen this year in new scenery. Mitchell would absolutely be worth that sacrifice, though Irving would not.
But this should never have been a zero-sum game. Mitchell/Irving or bust is not the smart way to approach a season. The team could still pry away several enticing veteran assets from the San Antonio Spurs, the Utah Jazz, the Indiana Pacers or even possibly the Charlotte Hornets. And that could honestly be what the Lakers need. The club's front office saw firsthand how risky trying to create a contender around a Hall of Fame Big Three can be after unequivocally flopping last year, with Russell as that third cog.
Mitchell and even Irving are much, much better at this point in their careers than Westbrook, and significantly better fits with James and Davis. But this Kyrie Irving is not the 2016 edition with whom James won a championship in Cleveland. Pinning all your hopes to Irving staying healthy and interested in basketball for a full season is quite dangerous.
If L.A. is unwilling to think a bit more creatively about the types of pieces it could get back, the club might be saddled with Westbrook's $47.1 million expiring deal all season.
The Lakers need to be open to carving out depth. L.A.'s roster around James and Davis remains a frustrating work-in-progress as training camp opens this week. The team got younger and more athletic this offense, but lacks much floor-spacing and is overloaded with too many point guards who will demand minutes.
Additions like Patrick Beverley, Damian Jones, Thomas Bryant, and Juan Toscano-Anderson make plenty of sense for L.A. on paper. Guards Kendrick Nunn and Austin Reaves can carve out roles with the team, too, to some extent.
But the club needs more top-line depth. Right now, 34-year-old Beverley is its runaway third-best player. A Pacers trade for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield would help balance out the roster, addressing two major needs for the team in the process (long-range shooting, where both players are concerned, and versatile front-court defense in the case of Turner). To a lesser extent, deals with the Spurs, Jazz, and Hornets could also flesh out the Lakers' depth and at least help its three-point shooting considerably.
Trading two future first-round picks doesn't necessarily need to net you a star. Los Angeles needs to embrace the concept of high-quality depth around its two best players. That approach sure worked in 2020.
