3 trades to improve the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason

Terry Rozier

The Charlotte Hornets signed and traded for Terry Rozier after Kemba Walker made his way to Boston. The Hornets signed Rozier with the full intention of him being the franchises point guard. After a great reputation with the Boston Celtics, Rozier joined the Hornets with a significant buzz.

What could the enigmatic Rozier inject into the Hornets line up?

Quite a lot.

Rozier has been an admirable replacement for Kemba Walker this season for Charlotte. Averaging 18PPG, 4.4RPG, and 4APG. 

Rozier has lived up to his “Scary Terry” Nickname with his in your face 100% effort every play on both sides of the ball.

But one thing that has occurred that the Charlotte Hornets could not have planned for.

Devonte Graham is arguably outplaying Rozier.

With the Hornets running a two-guard line up with Rozier and Graham, they are capable of playing together and have done so to solid success.

But with the 3rd pick in the draft, would it make more sense to draft someone like LaMelo Ball who has significantly more upside than Rozier and save $19m for the summer of 2021?

It is a real question that needs to be answered in Charlotte.

Drafting LaMelo Ball gives the Hornets a legit star to build around long term, His length at 6″8 gives the Hornets a more well-balanced line-up than the Rozier and Graham combo. His potential to score and assist at a higher rate than Rozier should not be overlooked and the fact that he will cost less than half of Rozier long term should make it a hard decision whether the Hornets keep Terry or not.

The Los Angeles Lakers while not offering a player of Rozier’s caliber in return, do offer a grouping of players who give Charlotte long term flexibility in terms of all being expiring contracts but, they offer a youthful team a bunch of well-respected veterans and good teammates in Danny Green, JaVale McGee, and Quinn Cook, as well as a young prospect with the Lakers, pick.

McGee offers a cheap alternative to Bismack Biyombo and Willy Hernagomez.

Danny Green offers depth at both the shooting guard and small forward and gives them a good perimeter defender to replace Rozier’s effort on defense.

And Quinn Cook gives them a veteran depth piece behind potentially LaMelo Ball and Devonte Graham.

Best of all, these 3 players and the pick give the Hornets players who expire in 2021 but also allows them to not overpay for anyone in 2020 and save the cap space and potentially make a splash in 2021.

The Lakers get a dogged point guard in Rozier who will give maximum effort on both ends of the floor and who can hopefully maintain a similar level of points and be the secondary playmaker the Los Angeles Lakers desperately need.

The Hornets could potentially get a better haul for Rozier elsewhere but with so many teams already having addressed the point guard position, it might be hard to find a trade that allows them to maintain cap space moving forward, stops them from overpaying for depth this season and allows potentially a player like LaMelo Ball and Devonte Graham from growing together.