Los Angeles Lakers: 1 potential trade target from each non-playoff team
By Jason Reed
San Antonio Spurs: DeMar DeRozan
This would require a sign-and-trade from the San Antonio Spurs but this is a situation where the Spurs could be petty. San Antonio was infamously petty with the Lakers when shopping Kawhi Leonard and it would not be totally surprising to see the team simply let DeRozan walk rather than trade him to the Lakers.
If the team is willing to make a deal with the Lakers then DeRozan could be a decent addition to the Lakers. While I personally am not a big DeRozan fan, it would give the Los Angeles Lakers a third all-star and that true third option.
The reason against going for DeRozan is that, quite frankly, he is kind of overrated in today’s NBA. He is a below-average defensive player that is slightly above average offensively. He cannot stretch the floor and is only a threat in mid-range and at the hoop.
That is fine if he is a role player but as an all-star player who has All-NBA nods? I am not sure if DeRozan is even a top-40 player because of the way he plays in 2021.
But at the end of the day, if the price is cheap and this is the one package that the Lakers could pull off for Schroder and Kuzma then they should do it. Getting DeRozan over those two is still an improvement and I do like him a lot more as the team’s third-best player rather than a team’s first or second-best player.