The Los Angeles Lakers have not looked like a contending team this season and that is putting it lightly. At this rate, there is no guarantee that the Lakers will even be able to make the play-in tournament, let alone be a playoff team.
While a lot of fans saw this coming with how bad last season was, this is a team that still has one of the best duos in the entire sport and it cannot go to waste. It may have been expected by many but this year has still been a disappointment.
With Anthony Davis playing at an absurd level this season, the Lakers may realize that the championship window is finite and they have to capitalize on the remaining chances they have. If the front office ever comes to that realization then we might actually see some aggressiveness in the moves they make.
Here are 3 moves the Lakers must make to become actual contenders:
1. Trade Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook has played better in his sixth-man role and has not been the key problem with this team like he was last season. Because of that, it actually seems far less likely that the team will actually go through with a Westbrook trade than it was six weeks ago.
That being said, Westbrook is not the best that the Lakers can do and if they are ever going to reach their ceiling it is going to be without him. He might not be playing horribly this season but it would be asinine to say that the team wouldn’t be better off with the duo of Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.
If the team continues to lose games then the front office likely won’t see the point of trading Westbrook. However, if they are going to be contenders it is a move that they simply have to make.
2. Find a way to get something of value out from Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn
Russell Westbrook is not the only guard that the Los Angeles Lakers need to trade in order to realize contender status. If the team is going to reach its ceiling this season then it is also going to have to find a way to get some value out of Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn.
Both Beverley and Nunn have been incredibly disappointing this season as both guys were expected to be welcomed additions to the rotation. Beverley has been one of the worst offensive players in the league and his defense has not made up for that fact.
Nunn, meanwhile, has not been the scorer that he was advertised to be while the holes in his defensive game have been highlighted. Both guards are struggling this season and if the Lakers could spin them into something better that would be a massive win.
Luckily for the Lakers, both Beverley and Nunn have moveable contracts. Both are expiring deals and since they are not minimum contracts, Los Angeles might be able to get something in return. They would just have to find a team that is more concerned with the money attached than the talent of the players involved.
Since both Beverley and Nunn are expiring deals, there could be a tanking team that wants to get off of a two-year deal and will take on two expiring contracts to make that happen. That is the best way for the Lakers to get value out of the two struggling guards.
3. Sign a legitimate rotation player on the buyout market
This move is not completely in the Lakers’ hands as the team’s buyout options are going to be limited to whatever is available on the market. And typically, if a player is getting bought out they are not a huge addition anyway as their previous team is paying them to play elsewhere.
There are not as many big-name buyout candidates this season as there have been in previous years. Kevin Love is probably the biggest name that maybe could have been a buyout target but the Cavaliers are playing well and Love has a role on that team so there is no reason for them to do that.
Instead, the Lakers might be looking at some of the in-between players that won’t get much value on the trade market. If the respective teams of each player do not get any interest for these players then they very well could be bought out.
Players fitting into this category are the likes of Kelly Oubre Jr, Terrence Ross and perhaps even someone like Josh Richardson. While not huge additions, all of these players are legitimate rotation players that could log minutes in Los Angeles.
The Lakers need to load up on all the talent they can get and we have seen firsthand how important a buyout target could be. Markieff Morris played a somewhat big role on the 2020 championship team, becoming the team’s best shooter from three in the playoffs.
3 changes Darvin Ham must urgently make to the Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers have not had a great season thus far and it is time for Darvin Ham to make some urgent changes to save the season.
If the Lakers can find someone who can have the same kind of impact that Morris had in 2020 then their chances will certainly be higher.