The Los Angeles Lakers are not going to trade Russell Westbrook before the 2022-23 season. That ship has sailed. However, Rob Pelinka should not stop looking at ways that he can improve the team for this upcoming season.
There is potential for the Lakers to improve the team via their Pacific division rivals, the Phoenix Suns. Phoenix currently has an issue with veteran Jae Crowder, with the two sides agreeing that Crowder should not come to training camp as the Suns work out a trade.
Crowder has one more year under contract and is making just over $10 million this season. Unfortunately for Phoenix, the way this has played out with Crowder has lowered his trade value, so the Suns are not going to get the kind of return that they would have otherwise.
This potentially opens the door for the Lakers. Los Angeles does not have a great package to offer for Crowder, but they have an offer that works and could be the best deal that the Suns can get. It wouldn’t be the first time that a player gets traded for less than expected.
The trade package the Los Angeles Lakers can offer for Jae Crowder:
The Los Angeles Lakers would have to dip into both of their mid-level exception contracts that they have in order to make this trade work monetarily. Also, Walker cannot officially be traded until three months after he signed with the Lakers, which falls on October 4.
The two sides can agree in principle on a deal before then, though, and simply wait until October 4 to submit the paperwork to the NBA in order to make it official.
Phoenix is not getting much in this package but they are at least getting some value. They are getting two bodies in return for one that would add guard depth. Walker is young and moldable while Nunn is someone who Phoenix could fall in love with because of his ceiling.
For the Lakers, this would be an example of the team plucking two players from an area of depth and adding to an area of weakness. Los Angeles is really guard-heavy but is significantly lacking in wing depth. If LA adds Crowder and signs Cole Swider to a standard NBA contract then suddenly the wing depth looks way better.
Los Angeles would still have Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Dennis Schroder, Austin Reaves and Max Christie to provide guard minutes. Crowder would be a solid three and D bench wing that would be a much better version of Walker off the bench.
The Lakers are seemingly envisioning Walker as a wing this season, which is a mistake. Walker is a two-guard. Crowder actually is a wing and would add a dynamic that the Lakers simply do not have at this point in time.
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Doing business with a rival may rub the Suns the wrong way, but the Los Angeles Lakers don’t seem to be contenders at this point in time. The Suns would much rather do a deal with Los Angeles instead of a team like the Milwaukee Bucks or Boston Celtics.