Lakers Rumors: Five players to trade Julius Randle for at the deadline

Now, this deal would actually include two guys – Derrick Favors and Joe Johnson. The reasoning here is simple: the entire reason to trade Randle is to get rid of contract space in Deng, if the team trades Deng then the Jazz must deal someone else as well so the salaries align.

Here, the Lakers are actually taking in more salary, bringing in just over $1 million more. As counter-intuitive as that seems, in the long run, this move would help both sides greatly. Sure, the Lakers are taking in more contracts, but they only would have to pay these guys for the remainder of the season instead of paying for multiple seasons of Deng.

With Gordon Hayward out of Utah, it may be time to go young and rebuild around Rudy Gobert. Favors and Johnson are great talents, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t factor into the Jazz’ long term plans. Instead of keeping them around, they could exchange them for a young, hungry power forward that would fit nicely alongside the shot blocking Gobert.

Plus, this move would undoubtedly make the Lakers better in the short term. While that may not really mean much, what it could result in is the Lakers squeezing into an eighth seed and making the postseason. Sure, they likely would not stand a chance against the Warriors, but it gets these young guys postseason experience.