Lakers Ranked Near Bottom Of Expert's List Of League-Wide Trade Pieces

Even though your Los Angeles Lakers possess two future first ballot Hall of Famers, two newly re-signed 25-year-old talents with room to grow, and several role players on mid-level deals, Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype doesn't believe they have enough quality assets to be listed anywhere near the top of the list of the NBA's most asset-rich teams.

The Lakers come in at a lowly 25th overall. They're ranked above only the Detroit Pistons, who have lots of assets and young players, but possibly no blue-chippers; the Dallas Mavericks, who have two stars who can't play defense -- and one of whom is on an un-tradable deal -- some mediocre veteran depth and very few of their own draft picks; the Los Angeles Clippers, who have two aging, injury-prone stars and a bunch of overpaid forwards; the rebuilding Washington Wizards; and whatever the hell the Chicago Bulls think they're doing.

Gozlan lists stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James as having positive trade value, though he notes that James' age (he's 38, and about to be the oldest active player in the league if Andre Iguodala officially retires as expected), mileage, and rapidly escalating injury history have made him less valuable than AD. Gozlan actually thinks 25-year-old starting shooting guard Austin Reaves, hot off an appearance with Team USA in the FIBA World Cup this summer, possesses more league-wide value than LBJ.

The team takes a ding in part because it lacks a lot of tradable draft picks, having offloaded them in deals for Davis and to acquire and subsequently get rid of Russell Westbrook's odorous contract.

Beyond those three starters, Gozlan considers power forward Rui Hachimura (who along with Reaves was re-signed to a long-term deal with Los Angeles this summer as a restricted free agent) and rookie first round draft pick Jalen Hood-Schifino as the team's other tradable pieces.

I appreciate Gozlan's argument, but I also think that we've seen enough evidence in the past to suggest that someone will take D'Angelo Russell's (slightly pricey) money off LA's hands this season without requiring Los Angeles to surrender a draft pick. Other players like new additions Gabe Vincent and Taurean Prince were also brought in on team-friendly contracts, and seem like they'd carry plenty of value across the league. The Lakers may be a bit undervalued in terms of their asset pool.

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