Deandre Ayton the backup center? Nope. The Los Angeles Lakers never entertained the idea of living in the timeline where that happens in Hollywood. Instead, Rob Pelinka and the front office decided to send the former first overall pick out of town to kickstart what should be the beginning of even more moves. Shams Charania broke the news of the trade on Friday.
"Just in: The Los Angeles Lakers are trading Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards for Jaden Hardy and two Wizards second-round picks in 2031 and 2032, sources tell ESPN."
Charania added that Los Angeles will shift their focus to finding a backup big man on the open market. Andre Drummond, Jonas Valanciunas, and Kevon Looney were brought by as names to watch for the Lakers. This Ayton trade has so much more juice than just reinviting the search for a new center behind Walker Kessler, though.
The Lakers saved about $2.1 million here by swapping DA for Hardy. They also netted some much-needed draft capital to aid any future trade efforts. Both of those things should mean Los Angeles is very open for continued business.
Lakers' new draft capital opens the door for a Jarred Vanderbilt trade
Jarred Vanderbilt's $12.4 million cap hit is holding up the Lakers' spending power on the open market. Acquiring two second-round picks from the Wizards should increase the chances of moving him in a cap dump trade.
The Lakers could waive and stretch Vanderbilt to create about $7 million of cap space. However, that gives them less flexibility than finding a willing taker via trade would. Every drop in the bucket matters, especially when trading Vando nearly doubles their ability to sign new players, or retain old ones.
Those picks could be gone very quickly from the Lakers' asset pool, a strategy that much more closely aligns with the Los Angeles Rams than it does the Los Angeles Dodgers. In this case, that is a worthwhile avenue to explore.
Rui Hachimura's chances of returning to Los Angeles are going up
If the Lakers manage to trade away Vanderbilt's contract, Rui Hachimura returning to Los Angeles starts to make a ton more sense. Hachimura fits the Luka Doncic timeline, his skill set compliments the franchise stars, and he continues to be available as a free agent.
Extra spending power would help the Lakers continue to make moves on the market. Bringing back their guy should be a part of the strategy.
Granted,the Lakers could just as easily gamble on an external name, too. The Ayton trade could create a legitimate opening to do both, if the next transactions continue to open up more cap space.
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