Lakers: The only 2 players worth trading Talen Horton-Tucker for

2. Robert Covington

Robert Covington is an elite two-way role player who is the perfect mold for any contending team that is looking for someone to make an impact on both ends. If the Portland Trail Blazers continue to struggle and go into full sell mode then the Lakers should be picking up the phone for Covington.

Covington is on an expiring deal so it is not like he is going to be untouchable in Portland. If the team commits to building towards the future it would be much better off trading half a season of Covington for an asset.

And as far as THT is concerned, the Blazers might prefer to get someone who is already in the league and has proven that he has potential rather than get some first-round pick from a contending team that is going to be in the 20s anyways.

Proven commodities are always better in the NBA and THT is a proven commodity. He is definitely enough to make it work and I would not even hate the idea of throwing in a future protected first-round pick.

The one downside of this trade would be that he is on an expiring deal. At least with Wood, the Lakers would be getting two years instead of one. THT, who has a player option after next season, could hit the market at the same time as Wood. That makes it easier to talk yourself into the deal.

The same cannot be said with Covington but if the Lakers truly feel like they can make a run with someone like Covington in the lineup then they should make that trade every single time.