The 3 most likely minimum contracts the Lakers will include in a trade

1. Damian Jones

It looked like the Los Angeles Lakers brought in a solid 1-2 punch at the center position over the summer when they signed Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant to man the position. With Bryant suffering a thumb injury and missing time to start the season, Jones had a chance to carve out a role on the team and make a difference.

Instead, the exact opposite happened. It became clear in the preseason and early on in the regular season that Jones was not going to be a very valuable contributor to this rotation. As a result, Jones hardly got any playing time even while Bryant was hurt.

When Bryant returned, Jones essentially became a wasted spot on the roster. This is just one of several reasons why Bryant is the no. 1 player that the lakers would look to include in a trade.

Second of all, based on the players that the Lakers have been connected to, it makes sense to trade a big. If the Lakers go and get Myles Turner then Bryant would become the backup and Jones would be pointless on this roster, especially with Wenyen Gabriel still on the roster as well.

Most importantly, though, is his contract. Jones signed a two-year contract that has a player option for next season. While it is not expensive, the Lakers are absolutely going to be looking to get that off the books so they do not have to deal with it next season.

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While it is not expensive, that could keep other teams from wanting to include Jones in a bigger deal. If they have no interest in the player to begin with, the other team in a potential trade would 100% ask for Juan Toscano-Anderson in a trade over Jones every single time.