Los Angeles Lakers: 3 trades for a second center involving Wes Matthews
The Los Angeles Lakers trade with former playoff rivals
Why not go out and try and land one of the best shot blockers in the league who currently isn’t getting big minutes with the Sacramento Kings?
Hassan Whiteside would offer the Lakers ideal rim protection and rebounding which would allow for Anthony Davis to not tax his body too much and be healthy and ready to go for playoffs.
With AD dealing with a calf strain, this would be the ideal move to take the pressure off the DPOY nominee and bring in a player capable of dealing with the shot-blocking burden.
- C Marc Gasol, Hassan Whiteside, Markieff Morris
- PF Anthony Davis, Montrezl Harrell, Jared Dudley
- SF LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma
- SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Talen Horton-Tucker
- PG Dennis Schröder, Alex Caruso, Quinn Cook
The emergence of Talen Horton-Tucker allows for Frank Vogel to get more minutes and expand THT’s role on the team. The purple and gold could reach out to Kyle Korver or former Los Angeles Laker Dion Waiters to take spot freed up by McKinnie and Matthews leaving.
A roster spot would still be available for a buyout candidate later on in the year. If somebody like Trevor Ariza were to get bought out, this would give the Lakers ideal depth at the small forward position.
This would give the Lakers a ridiculously deep rotation that allows for LeBron and Anthony Davis to play impactful minutes still but at times they can sit and the Lakers can feel comfortable with the depth they have. They can even rest one or both guys on back to backs and still feel confident that they will get a result.
Why would the Kings make a deal with their bitter rivals?
Simple. The Kings have a glut of big men. The Kings could use somebody like Wesley Matthew who brings experience and veteran leadership to the Kings guard rotation.
McKinnie gives the Kings somebody they can take a look at and see if he is worth anything. If he is, they can keep him on a team-friendly deal for a few more years. If not, his deal can be struck from the books this off-season. Throw in a 2nd round pick and it might just be too good for them to refuse.
Next. 3 teams that could offer THT a poison pill contract. dark
With Derrick Rose going for a Dennis Smith Jr and a 2nd round pick, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Whiteside looks for a similar move in order to play on a contender and potentially revive his disintegrating value in the free agency market.