Lakers Rumors: Three unlikely trades next season that are actually likely

With this potentially being the last year that the Cleveland Cavaliers have with LeBron James, the team may look to increase their title chances in any way possible, even sacrificing the future. Even with the drama surrounding Kyrie Irving, the Cavs are still narrowly the best team in the East over the Boston Celtics, with one more big move possibly putting them atop the Warriors.

That big move could be to go out and acquire a scoring center that can also rebound, that man is Brook Lopez. Although Lopez’ rebounding numbers have taken a hit in recent seasons, the big man has shown the ability to rebound with pieces around and more importantly can score the basketball in more ways that one.

Although the Cavs already have Kevin Love in a stretch four role, Lopez did shoot 34.6% from beyond the arc last season while averaging 20.5 points on the awful Brooklyn Nets. Lopez’ range and scoring ability is the perfect complement to James’ point forward role.

As for the Lakers, they do get a somewhat pricey center, but a young established center that can help the team now and in the future. Tristan Thompson is a big enough name in this league to draw in other stars. If Los Angels can clear space in Jordan Clarkson and Luol Deng, they could easily form a star-studded cast around Thompson in LA.

Again, it seems unlikely to trade a player that they just acquired, but they can turn Brook Lopez into a long-term investment. They did get rid of Timofey Mozgov to get rid of that type of contract, but Thompson is younger and is a significantly better option.