The most likely Lakers trade target comes from the rivaled Spurs

The Los Angeles Lakers have a chance to improve the team before the trade deadline and they cannot pass on that opportunity. While it is understandable to not want to overpay valuable assets without improving much, that is not an excuse to remain completely dormant at the deadline.

The problem is that Los Angeles does not have many assets to trade otherwise. There is very little young talent on this team and the young talent it does have it will want to keep. And if a superstar is not returning in a trade those future picks are not going anywhere.

It can be tough to figure out who exactly is a realistic target for the Lake Show will all of these parameters. While a lot can still happen before the deadline, there is one player from the rivaled San Antonio Spurs that seems far more realistic than any other potential trade target.

Doug McDermott is the most likely Lakers trade target at the deadline.

Doug McDermott is a sharpshooter and that is almost all he offers to an NBA team. He is not the most athletic wing that is going to get to the basket often (although he dunked on Jericho Sims’ head) and he is not someone who is going to lockdown a good wing scorer on the other team.

He is someone who can move off the ball and hit open shots from beyond the arc. That is what this team needs, though, with two players in LeBron James and Russell Westbrook that can actually get him the ball.

McDermott is shooting 42.3% from beyond the arc this season with a career 41.1% three-point percentage. He is averaging 4.5 attempts per game this season, which is up from his career average of 3.4. Only 10 players in NBA history have a better career three-point percentage than McDermott with at least 1900 attempts.

All that being said, McDermott should be a relatively cheap trade target that the Lakers could afford. Spurs fans would tell you otherwise and perhaps the organization would hesitate to help the Lakers but Los Angeles could realistically get McDermott for an expiring contract and a second-round pick.

Why? Well, San Antonio should be trying to get the extra year of McDermott’s contract off the books. While it is by no means a hampering contract, he is going to make $13.75 million next season. That is not a small figure for a small-market rebuilding team that should be playing its young guys more than a veteran like McDermott.

And while his three-point percentage is tantalizing, the fact that he is one-dimensional and is making $13.75 million hurts his trade value. There are a lot of NBA teams that would ask for value in return for taking on McDermott’s salary. The Lakers are the perfect team for San Antonio to actually get value back.

The Lakers could make this trade happen one of two ways. They could ship Patrick Beverley with the Chicago Bulls’ 2023 second-round pick. Or, it could be something bigger — like a Russell Westbrook trade — but that ship has seemingly sailed.

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It might not be the most exciting name but the reality is that someone like Doug McDermott might be the best the Lakers can do at the deadline this year.