3 trades Lakers must make after another playoff loss to Nuggets

While Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura proved to be great contributors for the Lakers, they can be inconsistent. It’s clear that Los Angeles is in need of a young star who can consistently deliver.

Before Zach LaVine’s injury earlier this season, the Chicago Bulls guard budded into a bright star. He made two All-Star appearances in his current stint with the Bulls. However, the reason behind his lack of success is due to the team that surrounds him. Throughout his career in Chicago, his team never made it to the top five in the Eastern Conference.

With that said, a change of scenery could benefit both LaVine and the Lakers. Playing alongside Anthony Davis and LeBron James seems like a perfect fit.

Davis is a pure big who dominates the boards and scores from mid-range and inside. James, on the other hand, is a point forward who loves dishing the ball to other scoring options. Having LaVine as their go-to scorer could increase the success of Los Angeles’ offense.

Dejounte Murray for Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and Jalen Hood-Schifino

If the Lakers aim for a cheaper option but still get their money’s worth, Dejounte Murray is a great alternative. Despite rumors about Trae Young potentially joining Los Angeles, having Murray makes a little bit more sense.

As mentioned earlier, the Purple and Gold need a consistent scorer to assist LeBron James and Anthony Davis. While Young is more than capable of filling that role, he’s more of a playmaker. The Lakers have too many ball handlers at this point and need to focus on increasing their offense.

Looking at Murray’s numbers this season, he averaged a career-high in scoring with 22.5 points per game. The Atlanta Hawks shooting guard is also a well-rounded player averaging 6.4 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game in the regular season. He also has an efficient shooting percentage of 45.9% from the field overall.

Any Lakers deal that would send Taurean Prince away

While Taurean Prince isn’t the worst player on the current Lakers roster, apparently he doesn’t fit in with the team. Back in March, Senior NBA Reporter Jovan Buha revealed that Anthony Davis and LeBron James play better without Prince, via Sportskeeda.

Recent statistics showed that Davis and James have the ninth-best point differential in the league. The duo outscored their opponents by 3.3 points per hundred possessions. However, with Prince out of the lineup, their net differential increases to 10.1 points per hundred possessions, making them the second-best in the league.

With that said, getting rid of a player that somehow drags the team down should be the right move for the Lakers.

Readers should take this article with a grain of salt. It’ll be up to the Los Angeles Lakers management whether they make any adjustments to their team for the 2024-25 NBA season.