Los Angeles Lakers

Lakers: 3 Trade Scenarios to Help the Lakers' Playoff Push

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:04 p.m. ET

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Oct 28, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers bench is clearly disappointed with the score late in the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Utah Jazz defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 96-89. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Luke Walton and the Los Angeles Lakers are falling back into mediocrity after a red hot start. Here are a few trades the front office should consider to get the team back on track.

Injuries to their starting backcourt and a few key role players have caused the Lakers to fall from grace and the Western Conference standings.

Once two games above .500, the Lakers are now five games below .500, after dropping 10 of their last 13 games. The Lakers should start winning games again once D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young return from injury, but nothing is guaranteed with a young team and a new head coach.

With teams like the Portland Trailblazers–who currently vacate the highly-coveted No. 8 seed–reportedly looking to make moves, LA should follow suit.

The Lakers playoff hopes aren’t dead just yet, but after a demoralizing five-game losing streak, the front office would be wise to at least consider shaking things up.

It is for that reason I have compiled a list of “realistic” trade scenarios the Lakers could pursue to get the Lakers back on track.

Feb 8, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) and guard Mario Hezonja (23) react after defeating the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Magic defeated the Hawks 117-110 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Any trade involving Jeff Green is generally considered a really, really bad trade. Especially if said trade involves a future-first rounder just to rent Green for a quarter of the season. Eh, what’s up, Doc?

But hear me out, this is a good trade for both parties involved.

The Orlando Magic decided to part ways with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Victor Oladipo, this summer in exchange for an established shot blocking stretch four in Serge Ibaka.

Oladipo is sitting pretty at the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and is sharing backcourt duties in Oklahoma City with one bad mamajama. Meanwhile, Ibaka and the Orlando Magic are on the outside looking in when it comes to playoffs. How did we get here?

Well, to make a long story short, the Magic have too many bigs.

*Spoiler: there is another trade involving a team with too much talent up front

A month after trading for Ibaka, the Magic decided it would be a great idea to add another shot blocking big to the mix. Why? Because defense that’s why.

However, with Ibaka and Biyombo on the roster, Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon have been put on the back burner in Orlando. That’s where the Lakers come in.

While I don’t think Orlando is ready to pull the plug on the Aaron Gordon project just yet, Nikola Vucevic seems gettable.

In the 2015-16, Vucevic averaged a cool 18.2 points per game and 8.9 rebounds. The season before that, the former USC product averaged a double-double, with 19.3 points and 10.9 rebounds. That’s pretty good for a guy that just celebrated his 26th birthday in October.

Vucevic is also cheap by today’s standards, only due roughly $36 million over the next three years. Compare that to the four-year, $65 million contract the Lakers handed 30-year-old Timofey Mozgov this summer, and it sounds even better.

In order to pull this trade off, however, the Lakers would have to part with ways with a few of their high profile players as well.

Orlando is in the market for scoring, according to the Orlando Sentinel, and the Lakers have a few guys on the team that are career bucket getters–namely Lou Williams and Nick Young.

Like Vucevic, Young and Williams are both on economically friendly deals, making this an ideal trade scenario for the Magic. Of all the players in this trade, Williams arguably has the highest trade value. Only due $7 million next season, Lou’s scoring for his value is almost unheard of.

Lou Williams' 137 Pts are the most off the bench in 4-game span by any player since starts were 1st recorded in 1970-71. (via @EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/iiKJlyDWgp

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 10, 2016

To get this deal done, Orlando would have to take in a bad contract (Luol Deng) and throw in a few sweeteners (Mario Hezonja and a future second round pick).

The Lakers would get two young players and an expiring contract, while the Magic would add firepower to a team that desperately needs it. Deng also fills a need at small forward for the Magic.

Nov 30, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) attempts to calm down forward Stanley Johnson (3) during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons win 116-105. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

This is where is starts to get real. Trading Julius Randle at this stage of his career would be insane unless the package the Lakers got in return was too good to be true. I believe that is this package.

Earlier this month, I wrote an article on what the Lakers plan to do at shooting guard going forward. In that article, I mentioned Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as a potential trade candidate for the Lakers.

The 23-year-old reportedly wants $20 million a year, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. KCP will be a restricted free agent next summer, so his future will ultimately depend on what the Pistons decide to do with him. That is unless some other team trades for him.

The Lakers looked like they had their backcourt of the future in D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson, but it hasn’t worked out that way. KCP would be a nice compliment–defensively at least–to Russell. Offensively, he’s still a work in progress.

While KCP is averaging a decent 14.5 points per game this season, he’s shooting 42 percent from the field and a lowly 37.5 percent from behind the arc. Sound familiar? It should.

description of the table for interested parties
Player	Season	Age	G	GS	MP	FG%	3P%	eFG%	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PTS
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	2016-17	23	25	25	33.2	.410	.373	.489	.820	1.0	2.6	3.6	3.2	1.2	0.1	1.2	14.3
Jordan Clarkson	2016-17	24	25	3	29.1	.425	.295	.466	.821	0.7	2.1	2.8	2.2	1.5	0.1	2.1	14.6

Clarkson has been underwhelming this season, and he usually shadows his defensive efficiencies with a stellar offensive game. That hasn’t been the case this season.

Caldwell-Pope would provide an upgrade at the 2-guard while giving the Lakers another exciting young piece for the future.

The Pistons would bolster their bench scoring and add another gritty young big to play with Drummond in the frontcourt. Will it hurt to give up Julius Randle? Yes, but adding KCP, the former No. 8 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Stanley Johnson, and a temporary replacement at the four in Marcus Morris is well worth it.

Whatever it takes to help Stan Van Gundy to form his f**king wall.

Jan 4, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Shabazz Muhammad (15) at the foul line against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 109-99. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

This is probably the least blockbuster type trade on the list, but it arguably helps the Lakers the most. Luol Deng hasn’t been great after signing a huge four-year, $72 million contract with the Purple and Gold this summer.

Finding a team willing to take on the $18 million he is due every year for the next few years will be tough, but not as impossible as some might think, according to Bleacher Report’s Rich Bucher:

Tom Thibodeau is not exactly a paragon of patience, which is why league sources expect that he is only a few more losses away from dealing one of his young stars for a veteran who can help him win now. His first look will be for a player he already knows and trusts because he’s already had that player in his system. Would the Lakers consider advancing their youth movement and dealing former Bull Luol Deng? Would the Bulls consider parting with Jimmy Butler or Taj Gibson? Where Thibs looks is not certain, nor is who he’d be willing to move. But those in the league who know his hunger to win and win now are convinced he will begin calling around soon, if he hasn’t already.

And so Lakers’ Twitter was engulfed in flames.

“Deng for Zach LaVine!”

“Deng for Kris Dunn and Andrew Wiggins!”

For every one sane Lakers fan, there are a million insane Lakers fans. While he is fan of his vets, there is no way Thibs pulls the trigger on a trade involving one of the Timberwolves’ pups.

However, if the Timberwolves are serious about engaging in trade talks for Deng, the Lakers should inquire about Shabazz Muhammad. Coming into his fourth year of his NBA career, the former UCLA product and Southern California native has yet to find his niche, but at 24 he still has a ton of room to grow.

The Lakers can’t just dump Deng’s contract without getting a bad contract back. Pekovic’s contract would be the one bad thing about this trade.

Thibs would get his veteran presence on the team and a good fit next to Karl-Anthony Towns at the four.

The Lakers would get a young player on an expiring contract and some legitimate size off the bench. It’s also one of the few trades that the Lakers could potentially pull of without give up Lou Williams.

It would be Flynn-Flynn situation for both teams.

Do the Lakers need to make a trade to make the playoffs this season? Should they stand pat at the trade deadline? Let us know in the comments below or join the conversation on Twitter (@TheLakeShowLife).