Los Angeles Lakers: 1 potential trade target from each non-playoff team

By Jason Reed | Jul 3, 2021

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(Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Chicago Bulls: Thaddeus Young

This is an interesting one as the Chicago Bulls are in a really interesting situation. The team actually committed to getting better this season as they traded Wendell Carter and two first-round draft picks to the Orlando Magic for all-star center Nikola Vucevic.

One of those picks was a top 10 pick this season but the Bulls have continually picked in the 5-8 range and it has done nothing for them. The team has committed to actually forming a winner, which is good, but they still are not going to contend for a title.

Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic are not a good enough duo to win a title. The ceiling of that team seems to be one playoff series win, if that.

That makes their potential trade chips interesting but the one player that does stick out is Thaddeus Young. And like with the Cavaliers and Timberwolves, this would be a situation where the Lakers would trade three years of Kuzma for one season of Young, as their price point is similar.

This would only happen if there are no other deals for Kuzma, whether alone or in a package, and the Lakers simply want to upgrade the position. Young is a better power forward as it stands today and fits the team much more than Kuzma does.

It also would accomplish the feat of freeing up more cap space next offseason if the team does want to try and make some sort of splash.

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