Lakers trade rumors: Four players worth trading Julius Randle for
By Jason Reed
DeAndre Jordan
On the surface, this may not make a lot of sense. With the Clippers on a full selling spree, DeAndre Jordan is most likely to go to a contending team like the Cleveland Cavaliers or Milwaukee Bucks. However, Jordan may be the answer to the Lakers’ big future plans, despite not fitting their spending plans.
The fact of the matter is that the Lakers are not a very interesting destination for stars on talent alone. Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram are all promising talents but are years away from contending.
The only way then for the Lakers to a superstar in the 2018 summer is if there is prior collaboration that brings two superstars together, both taking a slight pay cut. However, if the Lakers cannot free up Jordan Clarkson’s salary, they may not even have enough money with the pay cuts.
Thus, the Lakers need to bring in an established guy like DeAndre Jordan to make Los Angeles more intriguing. While he is not a perennial superstar, he is an all-star who can lure in a guy like James.
Brook Lopez and Randle make sense for the Clippers; they can potentially re-sign Lopez for far less than he makes now and they definitely can afford to pay Randle the ten or so million per year he will ask for. The Lakers still have around $30 million to pay an incoming superstar.