How to improve the Los Angeles Lakers: Trade Danny Green
Danny Green was considered an extremely solid get when the Lakers landed him during free agency in 2019. A proven 3-point shooter and an elite perimeter defender who would complement LeBron perfectly.
What can go wrong?
Well, not much has gone very right for Danny Green during his time with the purple and gold.
During the regular season, Green was average if not slightly below par.
In the bubble, Green, apart from his defense has been horrific.
A shooter who can’t make a shot. The irony is painful.
Green is getting the open looks that he was promised by the coaching staff. Never has Green been this open but his shots are not dropping and it is going on so long that he seems unwilling to take the shot now as he is worried that he is going to miss.
As a shooter, you need to have a short memory, the misses of the past cannot dictate the makes in the future.
If Greens $16m a year contract didn’t look good when he signed it, it doesn’t look good now.
So what can the Lakers get for Green?
The first player that comes to mind is the Philadelphia 76ers Josh Richardson.
It is clear for all to see that the current iteration of 76ers is not going to work. Too many ball handlers, not enough shooters.
While Danny Green isn’t exactly shooting well right now, he does offer the 76ers potential as a 3-point shooter as well as elite perimeter and transition defense. The most important thing he offers the 76ers is a player who doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective.
That is an incredibly under-utilized trait when you have such ball-dominant players like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons Tobias Harris, and Al Horford.
Something as simple as standing in the corner, draining 3s and helping on defense could do wonders for the 76ers as they need floor spacers and complementary pieces, not playmakers.
For the Lakers, they get a shooter in Josh Richardson who is a rich man’s Dion Waiters. A player who can score in volumes when given a chance, who can be a playmaker when needed, and is an underrated defender.
While he isn’t the 3-point scorer Green, Richardson is a can offer similar levels of defense when he is locked in.
Richardson allows for the purple and gold to have a player who will take and make shots and not second guess himself. At his best, he is a great 3rd option for any team. At his worst, he will still make baskets and defend well.
A solid trade-off for both teams.