Los Angeles Lakers: Five point guard trade candidates
By Ethan Temkin
2. Dennis Smith Jr.
With the New York Knicks sputtering to a paltry 2-8 start to the season, and both fans and management voicing their discontent, it may be time for them to tear this thing down. They have a number of interesting trade chips such as Wayne Ellington, Marcus Morris, and Julius Randle.
But, someone the Lakers should target is Dennis Smith Jr., who has been having trouble getting playing time with this mish-mash roster.
It’s hard to say whether or not the Lakers have a shot at acquiring a player of Smith Jr.’s caliber, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of teams lining up to trade for him. Most contenders are already set at the point guard spot, and most rebuilding teams already have one, which puts the Lakers in a unique position to make a move for him.
Smith’s salary is relatively low, at only $4.4 million, which makes salary matching much easier on the Lakers’ end. Although the Lakers are out of first-round picks to trade for the foreseeable future, they still have a number of second-round picks at their disposal. Anyone of Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, or Quinn Cook can make this deal work money-wise, it just depends on what the Knicks really want.
So why do the Knicks do it? They seem to have their backcourt of the future in Frank Ntilikina and R.J. Barrett, and Smith has already been heavily downgraded minutes wise, to only 8.7 minutes per game. It’s obvious the team doesn’t see him as a part of their future, and as such, the team should try and get something of value for him sooner rather than later.
Why would the Lakers trade for him? Despite all of his recent struggles, Smith is still a former top-10 pick who just hasn’t found the right situation for him. Prior to this season, he was averaging solid numbers at 14.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5 assists, which is promising given that he’s still only 22 years old.
With superstar players in LeBron James and Anthony Davis putting him under their wing, it’s possible Smith can bounce back if the Lakers trade for him.