Step #2
Trade LeBron James to the Portland Trailblazers for D. Lillard and M. Leonard
Before I get into this deal let me clear one thing up: Many Lakers fans think that LeBron has a no-trade clause in his contract. That is incorrect, LeBron James can be traded at any time.
Would the Trail Blazers actually make this deal? I don’t know. I doubt they’d trade Lillard straight up for LeBron, so I added in Leonard’s awful $10.5 million 2-year contract to sweeten the deal for Portland.
This trade would immediately solve the Lakers chemistry issues, because the “virus” on the team was created by LeBron James when he made it clear he didn’t value any of the young core and wanted Magic and Pelinka to trade them for Anthony Davis.
LeBron has further ruined his relationship with his teammates by blaming them for the Lakers 1-4 record over the last five games, instead of also holding himself responsible.
Unless the Lakers somehow figure out a way to make a drastic change in the way they interact with each other over the last 20 or so games of the season, Magic and Pelinka are going to have to make a trade this summer. Everyone expects the Lakers to deal Kuzma and maybe Lonzo or Ingram for an established player to pair with LeBron.
I’m going the other way though. I know it’s basketball blasphemy to say anything bad about LeBron James, but I really think the best thing for the Purple Gold is to hold onto Lonzo, Ingram, Kuzma, and Hart and trade their aging superstar.
If the Lakers did pull off this trade it would help them get younger while also giving them one of the best point guards in the league. Furthermore, even after the Lakers took on Leonard’s salary to go along with Lillard’s, they’d still have enough cap space to go after a max-free agent over the summer.