Lakers Rumors: Three possible trades to open the door for Kyle Kuzma

This deal serves as an unorthodox, backdoor way to get the Kuzma into the starting lineup. Kuzma is indeed a natural power forward and would be better suited there, but there is the chance that Julius Randle does not have any takers. In that situation, this backdoor way would be the best way for the Lakers to maximize all of the young talent they have on the court.

In this move, the Lakers would be trading their two shooting guards in exchange for a veteran shooting guard and power forward along with a reserve point guard. This would leave a pretty big hole at the two, which could be filled by Brandon Ingram. While Ingram is not your textbook two-guard, his lean frame and wingspan may be better suited at the two as he develops early in his career.

For the Jazz, this deal makes sense as they are able to turn some expiring deals into youth that they can then build around Rudy Gobert. Utah is in no real position to contend this season, so trading away Favors and Johnson would not be as big of a hit as it would have been last year.

The Lakers now can start Kuzma at small forward while having the veteran Favors guide both him and Randle at power forward. Los Angeles brings in a reserve shooting guard in Johnson for minutes off the bench, as well as bringing in a viable backup point guard for Ball.

While this deal does take a lot of what-ifs and is pretty situational, it is not all that crazy. However, I wouldn’t expect the Lakers to make a deal of this caliber unless all other options are off the table.