The Los Angeles Lakers have a very important offseason ahead of them. One move they should make is trying to trade Luol Deng.
After a disappointing season for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, they have new leadership in the front office. Former Laker great Magic Johnson is now running the show, and this has caused optimism in Los Angeles.
Luckily, the Lakers have two draft picks in the first round this season. However, there are a few poor contracts that Johnson has inherited. Most notably, Luol Deng. While Deng has been a very good player in the NBA, his best days are clearly behind him.
After a good season with the Miami Heat in the 2015-16 season, Deng signed a monster deal with the Lakers. At over 30 years old, signing Deng to a four-year, $71 million deal was a big mistake by the Lakers. Now, they have to fix it.
Last season, Deng played in 56 games and saw his numbers drop across the board from the season before. Deng averaged 26.5 minutes, 7.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. For a player making nearly $20 million a season, Deng was a huge letdown for the Lakers.
Moving forward, the Lakers have to try and find a way to get Deng off the roster. Having him eat up that much cap space is only going to hurt the franchise, and he also could stunt the development of Brandon Ingram.
As a small forward as well, the Lakers should be committed to featuring Ingram as the small forward in Los Angeles in the 2017-18 season. With a lot of potential, Ingram needs to be on the court as much as possible to grow. If Deng is on the roster, that becomes more difficult.
While saying that the Lakers should trade Deng is all well and good, doing so is not that easy. In order to trade a 32-year-old declining player that is overpaid, the Lakers are going to have to give up something good as well.
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With a second pick in the later part of the first round, that could be used as bait to try and package with Deng. Also, the Lakers have guard Jordan Clarkson, who is a talented player on a very reasonable contract for today’s salary cap standards.
Since the Lakers are still rebuilding, they likely will want to hold on to the 28th pick. If that pick is off the table, the Lakers would likely have to package Clarkson in order to deal Deng this offseason.