With trade season unofficially beginning on Dec. 15, it brings an onslaught of trade screenshots across social media and websites.
Instead of pushing them away and offering our own, we decided to facilitate
them to see who you guys want to see the Lakers trade for. It’s clear the team needs an upgrade, but does that mean they need to swing for the fences or focus on improvements on the fringes?
Let’s look at who you want to trade for!
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Obviously, Giannis is a hot-button topic when discussing NBA trades right now. A lot of commenters had various versions of trades for the Greek Freak. Some were a little sillier than others, but the most earnest ones included sending out Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, a first round pick and the necessary salary to match Giannis’ contract.
The first takeaway from those trades is that other teams across the league are going to be able to beat that offer pretty easily. The Lakers might be able to offer the best player in Reaves, but he can also walk away in free agency this summer and there’s not really anything keeping him in Milwaukee.
There’s also a question of whether the Lakers should trade Reaves for Giannis. Even if the answer is ultimately yes, it’s a decision that is becoming increasingly more difficult.
Herb Jones/Trey Murphy
The Lakers should absolutely be calling New Orleans, as should every franchise. There isn’t a team with a worse front office and everyone should be trying to take advantage of that.
According to reports, they have at least called about Jones, but either player would be a great fit for the Lakers, who need wings who can shoot and play defense.
First, let’s look at a Herb deal:
The Lakers would be lucky to get either Ellis or Herb this trade deadline as both will be hot commodities. But New Orleans and Sacramento aren’t parting with either for, effectively, scrap contracts. There would need to be lots of picks exchanged.
As things stand, the asking price for Jones is too high for the Lakers to meet.
As for Trey Murphy:
This one does include a draft pick and the most assets the Lakers can really offer, but it still falls short. It’s another situation where New Orleans is going to get better offers elsewhere and the Lakers just don’t have enough right now.
Clippers
Laughing at the Clippers is fun, but what would be even better is taking their useful players, too.
First, there was a trade of Gabe Vincent for Chris Paul and Brook Lopez. I see the idea and don’t hate it, but I think the problem is that both Paul and Lopez are really, really washed. As much as fans don’t like Vincent, he still is playable. Neither Paul or Lopez is at this point.
Another deal was a three-team proposal which would see the Lakers land Corey Kispert, Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn while parting with Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, Maxi Kleber and Bronny James.
I like acquiring any of those three in a vacuum, but all three together feels a bit too rich. Any of the three players in individual deals feels attainable, which I think is important. They’re smaller deals that could be made that could improve the Lakers on the margins.
This three-team deal probably won’t work, but I like the line of thinking here.
Kispert is a wing who can shoot. Jones Jr. has had success as an athletic wing alongside Luka in the past. Dunn is one of the best defenders in the league, though his history with Luka might have to be addressed.
The last trade was a small deal swapping Bronny for Cam Christie.
I know a subset of Lakers fans don’t like Bronny and are over him on the roster, but Christie is a better player and prospect than Bronny.
So long as LeBron is on the roster, I also tend to think Bronny will be, too.
Keon Ellis
We already saw one Ellis trade, but this one is a simple two-team deal.
I’m assuming it’s just a mistake that the Lakers get the right to swap picks with the Kings as that is no benefit to Sacramento. It’s kind of a moot point, though, because I don’t imagine this deal gets done simply with a pick swap.
The Kings are in a weird spot where they know Ellis is valuable, but they won’t play him. He makes sense for the Lakers and they should be asking about him. The question is whether it’s worth giving up one of the few first round picks they have for him.
Blowing it up
The last proposed trade was a wild one, which included trading Austin Reaves to Houston for pennies on the dollar.
I’m not outright against trading Reaves, it’s just going to need to be for a really, really good offer. He’s an All-NBA player this season who the Lakers are going to be able to use to leverage cap space this summer and potentially make a new Big Three.
If you wanted to trade him to Houston, you better be getting back a lot more than a very unproven young guard and a role-playing 3&D wing. I think Austin has proven to be way too valuable a player to trade away at that price, or any price, for that matter.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
