2. Michael Carter-Williams
The Los Angeles Lakers would receive a good defender with potential
Michael Carter-Williams never quite panned out in the NBA. He has shown brief flashes of being capable of doing more than he was letting on but he never quite reached that potential that he possessed coming into the league.
That being said, he has still put together a respectable decade in the league. He has been traded time and time again and now finds himself on the Orlando Magic.
Carter-Williams’ numbers have fluctuated throughout his career but he is someone who can take the ball up the court and get the offense going. He has averaged a career 4.4 assists per game with 6.2 assists per 36 minutes.
MCW would be a good player to get to come off the bench behind Dennis Schroder. Not only can he act as the team’s point guard off the bench but he is also versatile and can log minutes at the two and three as well.
He is a good defender and on the Lakers, he should be able to find some of the form that he has lost this season. He gives the team another wing defender in place of LeBron James, which is huge.
The defensive impact could be similar while the Lakers would be getting another potential facilitator that could also score 10-12 points off the bench.
It is obviously not close to LeBron James but it is a good pickup nonetheless. MCW has a very manageable $3.3 million salary this season and is under contract for another year, giving the Lakers another returning piece for the 2021-22 season.
The only concern is how much the Orlando Magic would ask for MCW. The Lakers’ best offer for MCW would be Markieff Morris (who Orlando can spin for a second-round pick), Alfonzo McKinnie, Devontae Cacok and a future second-round pick.