Should They Make Any Trades?
It’s easy for fans to say that the team should trade one or more of the veteran players Lou Williams, Nick Young, Timofey Mozgov, Luol Deng or Jose Calderon. However, most of those same fans vastly overrate what the Lakers would receive in return. All five veterans have their strengths, and all continue to serve useful purposes as role players on the team.
However, none of them are stars nor will any of them bring back a star in a trade. Rather, the Lakers would likely get back another veteran’s contract, although they might also net a second-round pick, or possibly a late first. Would that have enough impact to change the Lakers future prospects?
Of course, they’d receive more value if they added a Baby Laker into a trade. But there’s still the question of what they’d really get in return. The more likely scenario is that Coach Luke Walton will cut down some of the veterans’ playing time in the season’s second half in favor of the younger Lakers, including Larry Nance Jr., who just returned from injury, and Ivica Zubac, the 19-year-old still-raw 7-footer who they are trying to bring along slowly.