The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to improve the roster this season after showing a glimmer of hope in a promising stretch early this season. Unfortunately for the team, they do not really have great assets to improve the team so they are going to have to get creative.
A Russell Westbrook trade no longer seems like the most likely outcome, although anything can happen in the NBA. Instead, the Lakers are much more likely to work out a trade that includes Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn. The team can get creative on top of that, including minimum contracts and protected first-round picks as well.
The one problem with that is Beverley and Nunn’s value. Neither player has much value from a talent standpoint with most of the value being in the fact that they are on expiring contracts. This limits who the Lakers can trade for with this package.
As of late, the New York Knicks have emerged as a potential trade candidate for the Lakers and for better or worse, New York presents the best possible trade scenario for the Lakers with these assets. It might not be the most popular trade for Lakers fans, but the team has to take what it can get and the Knicks probably have the best offer.
The best trade that the Lakers can get from the Knicks:
Like it or not, this is probably the best the Lakers can do for a trade package that includes Beverley and Nunn. What makes this even more compelling for the Lakers is the fact that they can probably pull it off without having to include a first-round pick.
Those future first-round picks are extremely valuable and trading one of them — even with protections — for role players would not be a good move long-term. This trade is possible with just a second-round pick because of what the Knicks are trying to accomplish.
The main goal for the Knicks in this trade is to get salary off the books. Evan Fournier is no longer in the rotation and is under contract for two more seasons after the 2022-23 season. Reddish is also no longer in the rotation and with how badly the Knicks have handled him, he hasn’t garnered much trade value.
Fournier is a negative asset because of the multiple years on his contract. The Lakers simply taking his contract without asking for anything in return is enough value for the Knicks.
So why would the Lakers take this deal? It would be a flier, albeit a somewhat pricey one, hoping that Fournier returns to form. At his best, Fournier is a perfect role player for this team with his three-point shot and perimeter defending. His shot is not hitting this year but he is a career 38% shooter from three and he shot a combined 39.7% from three the previous three seasons.
Fournier really has not been in a great situation that suits him since leaving the Orlando Magic. The Knicks aren’t necessarily a well-run team and with that roster construction, it isn’t hard to see why Fournier might be faltering. At only 30 years old, it is not crazy to think that Fournier could turn it around in LA.
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Plus, the Lakers aren’t getting much better for this package! This package is 100% better than the Lakers attaching a protected 2027 pick for some mid-tier role player that is not even that big of an upgrade.