As The Los Angeles Lakers rollercoaster of a season continues, trade rumors continue to run rampant. According to Jovan Buha, Lakers will begin exploring trades on Dec. 15
How Realistic is a Trade?
December 15 is the first day NBA teams are eligible to trade players who they signed in free agency during the offseason.
The Lakers had a very busy offseason, when it came to signing free agents. Those free agents were Troy Brown jr., Thomas Bryant, Damian Jones, Matt Ryan, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Dennis Schroder and Lonnie Walker IV. The team now has to decide if parting with any of these players will allow them to become playoff contenders.
In reality, none of these guys, with the exception of Walker, are playing very well. In order to garner a trade that will allow the Lakers to become legitimate contenders, they will need to plan very carefully.
Many teams have their eyes on Russell Westbrook and the Lakers’ 2027 and 2029 first-round draft picks. The Lakers have lost out on multiple trades in the past few months because of their refusal to part with their future draft picks.Â
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka admitted during September’s media day “You have one shot to make a trade with multiple picks, so if you make that trade, and I’m not talking about one particular player on our team, but it has to be the right one.”
Finding The Right Trade
One trade rumor that has continued to float around is sending Westbrook to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner. In the past, this trade has failed to come to fruition because the Lakers did not want to include the two first-round draft picks.
Now that the season is a quarter of the way complete, the team is looking at their other options. Westbrook has really begun to find his way as the leader of the Lakers second unit. Trading him is still a possibility, however, it may not be the best option. Their best option could be to package some of the free agent signees in exchange for young players with size and the ability to shoot.
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