The Los Angeles Lakers recently advanced to the next round of the NBA’s in-Season tournament in controversial fashion.
That said, regardless of how that ultimately turns out for them, the real prize is the league’s actual championship. And in order to get there, the Lakers will likely need to make some big moves ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline.
Currently the Lakers are one of four teams that Zach LaVine has expressed interest in joining and one of two squads viewed as frontrunners for Lauri Markkanen.
The front office is reportedly eyeing five teams as potential trade partners.
“They’re still evaluating their needs and will continue to monitor the league, including potential fire sales in Toronto, Washington, Utah, Brooklyn and/or Charlotte that could make useful rotation players available,” Jovan Buha of The Athletic wrote this week.
The Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets all have interesting assets.
In Washington’s case, the only truly intriguing piece is Kyle Kuzma – but it is hard to see how L.A. finagles a move for him given his new contract.
With the Jazz, the likely targets would be Markkanen in a best-case scenario and Jordan Clarkson in a worst-case scenario.
Brooklyn has a stud in Mikhal Bridges, obviously, but he is definitely going to be off the table. An offensive spark plug like Cam Thomas could be gettable, though. He is built in that young Clarkson mode of scoring-and-nothing-else.
Terry Rozier, similarly, could fit that mold.
Finally, the Raptors could be a fun one. Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby would massively help the Lakers against someone like Kevin Durant; though they wouldn’t do much to address the team’s offensive woes.
One way or another, it appears as though the Lakers are planning on staying active ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
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