Who Should the Lakers Trade at the Deadline?

So, this again.

The Lakers (8 – 28 at the time this article was written) are once again in the middle of a disappointing season. Much like last year, talks of chasing the 8th seed quickly were snuffed out before that fire ever was really lit. Those off-season acquisitions that were supposed to make this year’s iteration of the league’s glamour franchise more competitive, haven’t come through like the front office hoped they would.

“Much like last year, talks of chasing the 8th seed quickly were snuffed out before that fire ever was really lit.”

And, sadly once again, the best strategy for the Lakers at this point is to simply lose enough games to get a decent shot at keeping the draft pick that they traded away in 2012 to the Suns, which is now owned by the only team with a worse record than themselves, The Philadelphia 76ers.

With that in mind, the trade deadline could be a good spot for the Lakers to tear down yet another poorly built roster, while hopefully salvaging some assets in the process.

What The Lakers Can Offer

Even though this team hasn’t won many games, there are some real NBA players on the roster who could be of value to a contending team come playoff time.

Lou Williams is perhaps the best example of this. The reigning 6th man of the year and honorary reference in a Drake song has had a quietly solid year for the Lakers so far. Obviously, no one is talking about him because his team is awful and not winning games, but Williams is quietly averaging career highs in points, three-point field goal percentage, rebounds, and steals. Part of that comes from a new career high in minutes, but that just proves that Lou Will will (#WordPlay) produce more when given a bigger role. His niche is still as a 6th man type scorer off the bench, and that extra scoring punch is exactly what some playoff contenders might be looking for.

The Yin to Lou’s Yang, and the Kanye to his Drake — Nick Young — is another player the Lakers might consider parting ways with at the trade deadline. Like Lou, Nick is a volume shooter off the bench who can score buckets with the best of them on the nights that he’s on. He’s also worked his way into becoming a surprisingly solid defender for the first time in his career, and might be a nice “3andD” type player for a team looking for some help off the bench.

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /

Lastly, Roy Hibbert might be worth considering trading if the Lakers can find a team willing to take on his $15mil expiring contract. Throughout his career, Hibbert has consistently been able to leverage his size with the NBA’s defensive verticality rules to make himself an effective rim protector. This year is no different, and a team looking for a big who can serve as a last line of defense might be willing to take on Hibbert’s contract in the hopes of getting first crack at resigning him next year as an unrestricted free agent.

What The Lakers Should Try and Get Back

Unfortunately, the players that the Lakers have to offer aren’t realistically going to push the needle too far for any team already in the playoff picture. As such, the return that the team can expect to receive on their assets probably won’t be as noteworthy as fans might hope.

Still, though, it wouldn’t be unfair to start the conversation for any of the three players mentioned above by asking for a late 1st round draft choice. With Hibbert, the Lakers would probably need to take on a bad contract as well, but that might be worth doing depending on the specifics of a potential deal. After negotiations though, the Lakers should probably expect to receive a second round draft pick or two for each player, depending on market demand.

Who Should The Lakers Trade At The Deadline? What Can They Get Back?

By Kellan Jansen | Jan 7, 2016