4 players the Los Angeles Lakers should hope get bought out

Robin Lopez

Robin Lopez was named in a recent article that I did about two Washington Wizards players that the Los Angeles Lakers could trade for. There is the possibility of Washington trading Bradley Beal and thus going on a fire sale.

The Lakers are obviously not in the market for Beal but they are in the market for someone like Lopez, who is making $7 million this season and would provide the team with big-man depth.

While he is a potential trade target the best-case scenario for the Lakers would obviously be if he is just bought out by the Wizards instead. A $7 million salary is not the hardest number to work into a trade, so the Lakers would have to hope that there is no other trade market for Lopez.

Lopez simply adds another option for the Lakers at the center position. He is not going to excel in any one department and is someone who could come off the bench when needed and provide a seven-foot presence near the rim.

Again: it might seem minor, but that is important. Having Marc Gasol as your only traditional center will come back to bite in the playoffs even if Gasol plays better. The Lakers cannot go small if they play the Denver Nuggets or the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals.

Robin Lopez has that dog mentality about him and has been really good in the playoffs in the past. Lopez averaged just about a double-double with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2014 and the Chicago Bulls in 2017.