2. Lakers send Anthony Davis home to Chicago
Anthony Davis is from Chicago and if there was ever a team that would be willing to send future assets to the Lakers to get Davis it would be the Chicago Bulls. Outside of Derrick Rose’s very short prime, the Bulls have not had a franchise player since Michael Jordan and have desperately been trying to add one.
Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan are both very good basketball players but they are not franchise players. Davis has the potential to be a franchise player and could potentially give the Bulls hope in building around him and luring other free agents to Chicago.
If the Bulls called and offered this exact package it would be very hard for the Lakers to turn it down. LaVine definitely is not as talented as Anthony Davis but he would fit alongside LeBron James much better as one of the best perimeter scorers in the entire sport.
They also get a young player in Patrick Williams to replace some of AD’s minutes for the time being. Williams has been struggling in Chicago so they should be motivated to trade him. There still is potential there for the Lakers to unlock.
Los Angeles could then use some of the picks they got from Chicago to try and flip Westbrook. Los Angeles could put together a lethal shooting unit that still plays good defense to try and make a run this year. If not, they can keep all this draft capital and utilize next summer’s cap space to build.
Best yet, the Bulls are not necessarily a super-well-run organization and like the Lakers are doing for the Pelicans this year, the Bulls could end up giving the Lakers some very valuable picks in the future.