Los Angeles Lakers: Two trades that would help now and in the future
JaVale McGee and Michael Beasley for Luc Mbah a Moute
Lakers Perspective: It would hurt to give up JaVale because he’s been a solid defensive center for LA. and he’s playing on a very cheap $1.5 million contract. But, do the Lakers really need a 3-man center rotation? JaVale’s been good for the Lakers, but he’s been replaced as a starter and right now Tyson Chandler and Zubac are better.
Mbah a Moute’s missed all but four games this year, because of a knee injury, but he’s now listed as day-to-day and is expected back any game now. Luc is a guy who hit 36 percent of his 3-pointers last year and two years ago he hit 39 percent of his shots beyond the arc.
The Lakers could really use a player like Mbah a Moute who can play excellent D while also hitting his open 3-point attempts. He’s also on a $4 million, one-year contract, which fits into the Lakers plans of not taking on additional money this year.
Clippers Perspective: The other team in LA is a surprising 28-22 and they got that record without Mbah a Moute. The Clippers have plenty of perimeter D and outside shooting, so they don’t really need Luc to play out the rest of his one-year contract.
Michael Beasley is just filler to make this trade work financially and the Clippers would probably just cut him. McGee is the player that the Clippers want.
The Clippers don’t especially need McGee this year, because they have Gortat starting, but with that said, McGee is a better player than Gortat, so the Clippers could certainly use him this season. However, this would be a trade for a player whom the Clippers could take a look at this year, with the hopes of signing to a multi-year deal over the summer.
Gortat is 34 years old, so it would benefit the Clippers to be on the inside track to signing McGee, who is three years younger than the “Polish Hammer,” and who can be had at a reasonable price. The best part for the Clippers is that all it would cost is a player in Mbah a Moute who hasn’t played for them this year anyway.