The Los Angeles Lakers have been a disjointed team all year, with the team failing to make any push upwards in the standing. Inconsistency has been normal for them, and perhaps some changes must be made in order for them to improve.
The Athletic's John Hollinger has recently reported that the Los Angeles Lakers are "surely" making calls on "guards who can play off the ball". Hollinger listed Norman Powell, Derrick White, and Marcus Smart as potential options.
Surely they are making calls about guards who can play off the ball, such as Portland’s Norman Powell, San Antonio’s Derrick White and Boston’s Marcus Smart, but they may need to set their sights a bit lower.
All of those players could potentially help the Los Angeles Lakers, as having players who can space the floor while not needing the ball in their hands much on the offensive end could be beneficial. Those types of players would have immense value on the Los Angeles Lakers, as they would be able to thrive next to a ballhandler like LeBron James. Marcus Smart is also a great perimeter defender that could give the team a player who can guard opposing stars, while Norman Powell and Derrick White could be solid supplementary scorers.
We'll see if the Los Angeles Lakers will end up making any trades going forward, or whether they will stay put with the same roster after the trade deadline. The Lakers haven't been fully healthy for the majority of the season, so perhaps that could be an argument to remain steady with this current iteration of the Lakers.
However, an argument could also be made that the Los Angeles Lakers need to make a trade to be more competitive based on their current record. Some have already suggested that they need to trade point guard Russell Westbrook to get better. Any of these players would help their situation, and perhaps we'll see the Lakers acquire them at some point in the future.
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