Lakers' top trade targets at each position

Lakers' top SF trade target: Royce O'Neale

If you are a frequent reader of Lake Show Life then you know how I feel about Royce O'Neale. He is not the biggest name and might be someone who some fans have never heard of. But at the end of the day, he is a solid role player who would make a positive impact on both ends of the floor.

The Lakers need someone who can defend at a high level but isn't a zero on the offensive end. O'Neale can be that player for the Lakers as he is better defensively than most of the Lakers' wings and is far better offensively than the likes of Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish, and Taurean Prince.

O'Neale is shooting 38.3% from three and is very consistent as he has shot above 38% in each of his last four seasons. O'Neale is a bit undersized on the defensive end but is still a plus defender, as evident by his 1.1 Defensive Box Plus/Minus (zero is considered average). There are only eight players in the league who are shooting 38% from three and have a DBPM above one with at least 150 threes attempted. O'Neale is one of those eight.

If he was the only addition it would not drastically increase the Lakers' title odds but he is still exactly the kind of role player that Los Angeles needs to add. Best of all, he is on a relatively cheap expiring contract. The Lakers can likely bring O'Neale in a deal similar to the one they traded for Rui Hachimura last season.