4 trades the Lakers must make after trading for Rui Hachimura
By Jason Reed
1. Los Angeles Lakers add an elite shooter
The best possible trade that the Los Angeles Lakers can make is not a big one and is one that can be combined with almost every other trade on this list. Even in the case of McDaniels, the Lakers could try sending a 2025 second-round pick if they wanted to add both players.
This is a team that needs three-point shooting. It needed three-point shooting in the offseason and they ignored it. While they have been able to stay afloat this season, they need a bonafide marksman that can hit shots in a playoff game.
That player is Alec Burks, who is on the tanking Detroit Pistons and is certainly going to get trade interest. The Lakers do not have the means to get in a bidding war for Burks and the hope has to be that a second-round pick would be enough.
That pick is currently slated to be in the top 40 and Los Angeles just has to hope that another team doesn’t come over the top with a better offer. The thing working in the Lakers’ favor is the fact that Beverley is an expiring contract and won’t restrict the Pistons moving forward. That at least gives them some extra value versus a multi-year salary.
Burks is shooting 44.4% from three in 4.4 attempts per game this season. Having that kind of presence off the ball to benefit from the gravity that LeBron and AD have near the rim would be absolutely massive for this team.
It might not be very likely but it does not change the fact that it would be fantastic for the purple and gold.