The Lakers are looking to trade Lou Williams before the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline and these five destinations could work
The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to be sellers at the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline for a number of reasons. For one, they are looking to add to their already enormous amounts of cap space in 2016 free agency by taking some contracts lasting beyond this season all of the books. In addition, the Lakers would also love to acquire either draft picks or young assets to help build for the future. One player who could help them accomplish this by being traded is Lou Williams.
Signing Williams in 2015 free agency didn’t make a ton of sense in the first place for the Lakers, even with him coming off winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award last season. He’s always been better suited on a team as a scoring option coming off of the bench for a good team rather than a featured option on a bad team, the latter being his situation with the Lakers.
Subsequently, it would be in the best interest of the Lakers to try and move him before the deadline as he’s under contract until the summer of 2018. Moreover, it might be in the best interest of several teams around the league to try and bolster their scoring options on the wing, particularly by slotting Williams into his more natural sixth man role.
Looking at the scope of the NBA right now and what the Lakers would be looking to get back, these are five potential trade destinations for Lou Williams leading up to the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline.
Next: No. 5 Thunder
5. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the few teams in the NBA that seem to have a little chance of taking down the Golden State Warriors this season—or rather they have one of the best chances of keeping things close in a seven-game series. However, they’re also a team that could use some movement around the trade deadline, specifically to help bolster their scoring off of the bench. Luckily for them, that happens to Williams’ forte.
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The Thunder obviously have a tremendous amount of talent in the likes of their stars, but get pretty thin when dipping into their reserves. Adding another scorer to their backcourt or on the wing would be tremendous for them as they look to build for the postseason and Williams could be a player that would help them in a big way in that regard.
As for what the Thunder could send back, the Lakers obviously aren’t going to be getting Kevin Durant or anything. However, the possibility of getting expiring contracts like Steve Novak and D.J. Augustin in return is certainly a move that would be intriguing and would help clear up more space on the Lakers’ books moving forward, even if they aren’t getting a major asset in return.
Next: No. 4 Pacers
4. Indiana Pacers
For starters, the Indiana Pacers and the Lakers have a working trade relationship after the 2015 offseason and the deal that ultimately sent Roy Hibbert to Los Angeles. However, what’s more important is that the Pacers have been made increasingly thin in their backcourt due to injuries and could stand to have another body capable of putting points on the board coming off of the bench. Enter Lou Williams.
With Rodney Stuckey having dealt with a litany of injuries throughout the season, the Pacers could really stand to have another more reliable sparkplug coming into their backcourt with the reserves. Whether or not they’d want to take on another contract in their backcourt remains to be seen, but that could potentially be remedied in a trade with the Lakers for Williams.
The Pacers could potentially send the Lakers one of either Ian Mahinmi or Jordan Hill given the emergence of Myles Turner as the featured player in their frontcourt. In addition, a prospect like Solomon Hill or Glenn Robinson III would make the deal work in terms of salaries and give the Lakers another young asset as they move forward. Subsequently, a deal makes sense for both sides to get Williams off of the Lakers.
Next: No. 3 Heat
3. Miami Heat
The Miami Heat, despite all of the talent already dispersed throughout their roster, are a team that could unquestionably use an influx of scoring on the wings. While they would ideally like to add a lethal outside shooter at the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline, that market might not be there before Feb. 18. Therefore, a player like Williams who is solid in terms of his perimeter shooting but also offers other scoring capabilities could wind up fulfilling their needs.
Though the Heat do have a talented wing in rookie Justise Winslow coming off of the bench, they could use some strengthening of their reserve backcourt. Players like Beno Udrih, Gerald Green, and Tyler Johnson haven’t been bad, but undoubtedly haven’t been enough to get Miami over the hump to this point in the season. Adding a proven veteran scorer like Williams could undoubtedly improve them in that regard.
In terms of getting a deal done for Williams between the Lakers and Heat, the Lakers have a couple of options, both of which include taking on the expiring deal of injured veteran Chris Andersen. The first would be to take on Birdman and another expiring deal like that of Green. The other would be to try and grab a prospect like Jarnell Stokes or Johnson in such a deal. Either way, there’s a chance that a deal with the Heat and Lakers for Lou could get done.
Next: No. 2 Grizzlies
2. Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies have long been in the business of needing to bolster their offense on the perimeter. While Lou Williams isn’t exactly Stephen Curry or Kyle Korver, he’s been a solid outside shooter this season that also offers a pretty versatile scoring attack as an individual player. As Memphis seems like a plausible candidate to really shake things up at the deadline given the recent injury to Marc Gasol, they could be a potential destination for the current Lakers guard.
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As stated, the Grizzlies have had a perennial need to add scoring on the wings and Williams is an obvious answer to that. However, without Gasol potentially for the rest of the season to help facilitate the offense out of the high post, that could call for the Grizzlies needing to add wings that can create their own shot, which just so happens to be one of Lou’s areas of expertise.
The tricky thing with the Grizzlies is trying to find a trade that works financially. While Memphis could send the Lakers a number of different packages that would work under the CBA, that doesn’t mean that there’s many great deals for the Lakers. Looking at Memphis, the best option would be just to try and trade Lou for an expiring contract like Jeff Green. No matter how they get the trade, though, the Lakers sending Williams to Memphis seems more than feasible.
Next: No. 1 Bulls
1. Chicago Bulls
Though Jimmy Butler obviously shouldn’t be out long past the All-Star break, the Chicago Bulls have shown throughout the year that they are severely lacking in terms of backcourt players. Guys like E’Twaun Moore and Aaron Brooks are fine players, but they don’t exactly move the needle for this Bulls team in the way that they could really use in terms of trying to make noise in the Eastern Conference.
Obviously this would be an area where Williams could help tremendously, Though he may not fit with the Lakers and what their organization is trying to do, he’s the perfect type of player to play in a reserve role for the Bulls. Sure, a returning Mike Dunleavy will help too, but throwing Williams into the rotation as relief at either guard position could be an interesting look that would give Chicago instant offense coming off of their bench.
Next: 5 Possible Trade Destinations for Brandon Bass
As far as making a deal work with the Lakers’ interests at the deadline in mind, there are plenty of ways that a trade could work financially with the Lakers getting something in return. However, the interesting move would be to see if Chicago would take a package in exchange for Joakim Noah. Even though Noah is currently injured, he’s an intriguing free agent prospect for LA and, if acquired in a trade, could give the Lakers a foot in the door in trying to sign him this offseason. Either way, Williams going to the Bulls is a trade that could potentially benefit both the Bulls and the Lakers.