Virtually every Los Angeles Lakers trade target, suggestion, or rumor is focused on bolstering the team’s defense. That’s totally understandable. The Lakers should be preparing an aggressive run at Donte DiVincenzo anyway.
Writing for ClutchPoints, Kris Pursiainen reports that the Minnesota Timberwolves have held “exploratory discussions” with the New York Knicks about a deal that would land DiVincenzo back in The Big Apple. The Lakers are not name-checked as part of this rumor, but they don’t need to be. The real revelation here is that DiVincenzo is available at all.
And if that’s the case, team president Rob Pelinka should be prepared to pounce.
Donte DiVincenzo can take the Lakers offense to another level
As owners of a top-seven offense driven by two elite guards in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers do not have the profile of a squad that needs help on that end of the floor. But DiVincenzo brings a different functional element the roster currently lacks: high-volume three-point shooting, punctuated by a ton of off-ball movement.
Despite getting plenty of deep attempts from Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers rank near the bottom 10 in both the share of their shots that come from deep, and overall efficiency from beyond the arc. On top of that, not one of their non-bigs grades out as an exceptional mover and shaker away from the ball. Jake LaRavia is the closest they come, and his movement doesn’t typically generate in bombing away from deep.
DiVincenzo checks all of those boxes. His 9.2 three-point attempts per 36 minutes would rank second among Lakers rotation players. And he’s one of just nine names in the league delivering that volume while converting more than 37 percent of his triples.
Better still, DiVincenzo isn’t ferrying an idle workload. He is in the 75th percentile of movement points per 75 possessions, according to BBall Index. His shot-making also scales to more difficult looks. He currently sits in the 99th percentile of deep three-point efficiency despite being in the 23rd percentile of overall three-point-shot quality. Just three other players are doing the same in as much playing time: Jaylen Brown, Nikola Jokic, and James Harden.
The Lakers should make an aggressive push for DiVincenzo
Acquiring DiVincenzo would not do much to improve the Lakers’ defense. So be it. They can make another move to do that.
Failing that, there is value in creating more separation from the field with their offense. Where the Lakers are hovering around the top five to seven right now, adding DiVincenzo vaults them into top-three-or-better territory. You can make deep playoff pushes with a sub-average defense if your offense is that good.
DiVincenzo’s contract just so happens to fit the Lakers’ pursuit of flexibility moving forward. He is making $12 million this season, and just $12.5 million next year.
Compensating Minnesota, a conference rival, is the real challenge. Then again, if the Timberwolves are talking shop with the asset-starved Knicks, the cost of landing DiVincenzo may not be very high.
The Lakers can trade up to one first-round pick (2031). That’s one more than New York. If they’re not willing to part with that or swaps for DiVincenzo, they can try cobbling together a three-team trade that nets Minnesota another ball-handler it so desperately needs. Could L.A. get the Chicago Bulls to send Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu to the Timberwolves, while the Lakers take back DiVincenzo?
Regardless of the path taken, the overarching point stands: The Lakers have room to get even more dangerous on offense, and bagging DiVincenzo accomplishes just that.