3 big-name Lakers trade targets revealed (but are they realistic?)

Bojan Bogdanovic: Somewhat realistic

Bojan Bogdanovic is perhaps the most realistic player on this list for the Los Angeles Lakers to trade for but I still would not get my hopes up. Quite frankly, the Lakers don’t really have great assets to trade so the players they actually can bring in aren’t great. Bogdanovic would be the best possible get for LA.

The Detroit Pistons have been atrocious this season and it is pretty clear they are better off trading whatever they can trade for assets and tanking for a top pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. That includes Bogdanovic, who the team traded for last summer and signed to an extension.

Detroit really didn’t trade that much for Bogdanovic and that extension seems like it was a play to get more value out of him on the trade market once they eventually did shop him. At 34 years old, though, there could be some teams that are hesitant to bring in Bogdanovic with two more expensive years attached.

For that reason, there is a world in which Bogdanovic’s trade market isn’t that great and the Lakers can get a deal done without including a first. However, in that same breath, the Lakers may not want to do it because they don’t want to take on two more years of big salary for a role player.

Another bad Lakers mistake is in the spotlight as Austin Reaves thrives

Even when good things happen for the Los Angeles Lakers the mistakes they have made in come into the spotlight. That is the case with Austin Reaves.

On paper, Bogdanovic would be great and the market can certainly align for the Lakers to strike. But with how they operate internally, I still would not expect it to happen.