The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled out of the gate this season and that has led to many fans hitting the drawing board to try and figure out how this team can improve. When looking at potential trades, there is only one player the team can realistically trade of value: Talen Horton-Tucker.
Earlier this week we broke down why the Lakers are not going to trade THT this season. However, desperate teams do crazy things and we never would have expected them to trade for Russell Westbrook in the offseason. Nothing can be fully ruled out, even if it does not seem to make a ton of sense.
The guys over at the Lakers Legacy Podcast, the official Lakers podcast of the FanSided Podcast Network, put together seven potential THT trades if the Lakers were to make a trade this season. In a bit of a collaboration, I am going to break the seven trades down and give my verdict on the possibility of it happening.
Seven trade packages for the Los Angeles Lakers and Talen Horton-Tucker:
1. Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and a contract for Harrison Barnes
The first potential trade package includes a division rival, the Sacramento Kings. In this package, the Lakers attempt to flip the future asset in THT to a rebuilding team for the current asset in Harrison Barnes, who has been playing exceptionally well the last two seasons.
On paper this makes sense and this is a trade type that we have seen multiple times. The money works out, as Barnes is making just over $20 million this season. The Lakers could package THT, Kendrick Nunn and Avery Bradley to make the money work.
The Lakers should jump at this if it was offered as Barnes is under contract for another season. However, the Kings likely would not say yes for three reasons.
First, the Kings are already really guard heavy and THT might not be as appealing to them. Second, the Kings can probably get a better package from a contending team that also includes draft capital. Third, the Kings don’t like doing business with the Lakers. While a Buddy Hield deal almost happened, the two teams have not made a trade since 1977.
Verdict: Not possible.
2. Talen Horton-Tucker for Robert Covington
The original package that the Lakers Legacy guys put together was THT for Robert Covington and Anfernee Simmons. However, the money in that trade does not work out as Covington already makes more than THT and he alone is too much to acquire straight up.
The Lakers can make a deal happen, though, by throwing in a contract with THT to get Covington. The Lakers could package someone like Kent Bazemore in the deal in order to make the money work. That does not sweeten the offer for Portland, it only makes it possible.
Covington would be a dream fit on the Los Angeles Lakers. He is the perfect defensive wing that the Lakers need and would help the floor spacing so much without sacrificing size. While he probably still won’t do it much, this would open the door for Anthony Davis to play more center.
The problem is that Covington is also very important to what the Portland Trail Blazers are doing. Portland has to build around Damian Lillard and his defensive inefficiencies and Covington is a huge part in the team doing so.
That being said, Covington is on an expiring contract and Portland is only 10-10 this season. If things start to go off the rails they could become sellers. THT is a young asset and is a good defender as well. If the Lakers attach some future draft capital in this deal, and things fall the right way, then it is a trade that could be possible in theory.
Verdict: Possible if the Trail Blazers lose and become sellers.
3. Talen Horton-Tucker for Larry Nance Jr.
The third potential trade also includes the Portland Trail Blazers and includes the Los Angeles Lakers trading for a player who used to wear the purple and gold. The Lakers brought in several former Lakers in the offseason so it would not be all that surprising to see them target more.
Larry Nance Jr. was also targeted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 season. Nance played well alongside LeBron James and he very well could have input in the decision to flip THT for the wing in Larry Nance Jr.
This trade does work one-for-one and if the Lakers wanted to also acquire someone like Simmons then they would need to throw in another contract as well. Simmons’ value is not that high but if the Lakers were trying to include him in the deal then the Blazers would leverage that to get a future second-round pick.
This is a much more realistic deal for the Blazers than the Covington deal. The Blazers do not need to even start losing for this deal to happen. Flipping one year of Nance for three years of THT, who is a strong perimeter defender, would be a smart team-building move for Portland.
However, I am not sure this is a good deal for the Lakers. While Nance adds what the Lakers need in theory, he is not going to move the needle and the team would be trading the potential of THT for someone who does not raise the title ceiling at all.
Verdict: Possible, but unlikely the Lakers say yes.
4. Talen Horton Tucker and a contract for Danny Green and Matisse Thybulle
The fourth theorized trade includes the Los Angeles Lakers trading for another former player in Danny Green. Green, while he could not hit a shot in the Orlando bubble, was a very important part of the team’s defense when they won the NBA Championship in 2020.
The Lakers are now one of the worst defensive teams in the league and would undoubtedly improve the defense tenfold by adding both Green and Matisse Thybulle. However, while Thybulle is not a big factor on the offensive end, this trade is unrealistic.
This would strip the 76ers of their defensive identity. While Green is on an expiring and you can make the case for flipping him for a young defender in THT, that trade would not be good enough for the Lakers.
To make the trade worthwhile they would have to ask for someone like Matisse Thybulle and that just is not going to happen. Thybulle is one of, if not the, best defensive guards in the league. He finished first in Defensive Box Plus/Minus this season and finished on the All-Defensive Second Team as a bench player!
Horton-Tucker is nowhere near enough to convince Philly to do a trade like this and the 76ers are not in a position to make a trade like this. This doesn’t really help the future, as Thybulle is also young, and it makes them worse this season.
Verdict: Not possible.
5. Talen Horton Tucker for Derrick Favors and Lu Dort
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a really bad basketball team that should be selling any assets it has. Derrick Favors absolutely falls into that category and if the Thunder can get something for him then they should.
The player that Thunder fans would be upset about trading is Lu Dort. Most Thunder fans would probably laugh at this trade because Dort is held in such a high regard but quite frankly, THT is a better all-around basketball player than Dort.
THT might not be as high-volume as Dort but Dort also is not very efficient in scoring the basketball. He scores because he is on a bad team that allows him to score. THT is the better defender as well.
So why would the Los Angeles Lakers make this trade? The logic here would be to add depth to the roster and get two solid rotation players for the price of one. It would also add to an area of need, picking up a wing and a power forward, for an area where the team is a bit deeper.
In this trade the Lakers would also be getting youth in Dort, so they still would have future plans and would add more time with him as they can agree to another extension similar to THT after his current deal is up.
I am not sure the Lakers would say yes to this because of how highly they think of THT but if they are really intent on moving him this is a package that absolutely would be available.
Verdict: Possible
6. Talen Horton-Tucker and a contract for Kelly Oubre
The Lakers Legacy guys theorized that P.J. Washington could maybe be included in this deal as well but that complicates things. The Lakers already have to attach another contract in the deal and I don’t think the Hornets would want to part ways with youth in Washington.
However, they absolutely could be willing to part ways with an older player in Kelly Oubre for a younger player in Talen Horton-Tucker. While the Hornets are playing well this season they are not true title-contenders and the ceiling might be a second-round exit.
That is not necessarily a bad thing but this is a team that is still building and growing. A great way to build and grow is to sign a role player like Oubre and then flip a year and a half for him for two and a half years of a young player like THT.
While they would lose some scoring with Oubre, THT could replace most of that and open up more shots for other players. More importantly, THT would give the Hornets a young defensive player to build the perimter defense around.
The problem with this trade from LA’s point of view is that Oubre has been horrible defensively this season. Part of that is because of the team he is on but even at his best, he is as good of a defender as THT is now.
Granted, the Lakers would be adding a wing and that would help even out the rotation but there runs the risk of his defense lacking. Sure, they would add another solid scorer, but it would only add to the defensive holes in LA. Charlotte definitely says yes to this and I am not quite sure what LA would say depending on how the season goes.
7. Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and a contract for Jerami Grant
I saved the best trade for last. While the Philadelphia 76ers trade might be the best trade on paper we deemed that it is not possible. I am showing my hand here but if the Lakers do trade THT, this is probably the best realistic package that the team could get.
The Lakers would be getting someone who would be a great fourth player on the team. In fact, if the Lakers just didn’t trade for Russell Westbrook, kept their depth and then traded for a third player like Grant then they would be in a much better situation than they currently are in.
But I digress.
Grant is not a defensive menace by any means but he is someone who can hold his own and won’t get hunted when he is out there. He is a solid scorer that helps with the team’s floor spacing and would give the Lakers a great closing lineup. Grant would fit great in the frontcourt next to LeBron and AD.
The Pistons are a team that is not going anywhere and perhaps overpaid Grant a tad too much. If the Pistons want to get real assets for Grant then they shouldn’t wait and should trade him at the deadline this season. However, because of that contract, there might not be many contenders that are interested.
The Lakers probably would have to throw in a future pick to make this work but they would be selling the potential of THT for Grant. The other pieces in the trade are only there to make it possible.
The Pistons shouldn’t simply hold onto their assets and Grant is someone who they definitely should trade at some point. The hope for the Lakers is that the team does not get beat with a better offer.
Verdict: Possible.