The Lakers should at least explore making these five trades or something like them happen this season
It’s the turn of the New Year and that leaves many NBA teams starting to think about the second half of the season and what’s in store for their team. That naturally includes what trades a team could possibly make before the NBA Trade Deadline and what those deals would accomplish. Even with virtually no shot at the postseason, the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t excluded from those types of ponderings.
While many teams approach the trade deadline operating under the premise of how to improve the team this year, the Lakers should have a different approach when it comes to free agency. Whether the Buss family and Mitch Kupchak will have that approach remains to be seen.
Even still, the Lakers have to look at any potential trades in terms of acquiring assets and potentially acquiring draft picks. This is a franchise in the heart of a rebuilding process and there aren’t going to be any trades available that offer immediate fixes.
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Subsequently, any trades or trade propositions should be centered around clearing more cap-room for next summer, getting high-value on young players with upside, or acquiring a security blanket for the 2016 NBA Draft in case the top-three protected first round pick falls to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Moreover, it would be great for the development of the young players if Kobe Bryant wasn’t on this team eating up their minutes. But realistically, there’s not a chance in hell that Kobe is getting traded while he’s on his farewell tour and retiring at the end of the season. His contract will be off the books at the end of the season regardless, so any trades that would involve trading Kobe to help develop young players is just a silly impossibility.
Obviously having those sorts of parameters limits some of the deals that could be made leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline, but there are undoubtedly deals to still be made. These five trades could all help the Lakers organization in their own way moving forward and should at least be discussed by the front office in the coming months.
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