Los Angeles Lakers: Three midseason trades to get rid of Luol Deng

This trade is pretty boring, it is essentially the same trade as the slide before except DeMarre Carroll would not have as big of a role as Tyson Chandler would if the Lakers were to acquire him. However, the entire point of the deal is to free up Luol Deng’s contract, so the job is still done at the end of the day.

The Brooklyn Nets are no strangers to these trades as that is how the team landed D’Angelo Russell last offseason in exchange for Brook Lopez and a first-round draft pick. This time, the Lakers are doing the draft pick honors and sending back a first-round selection that can be used in two drafts.

This pick is not going to mean much for the Lakers, assuming this plan does not somehow completely fail and the team ends up being a lottery team again. The chances of that happening are slim to none, though.

Carroll will have a limited role with a surplus of forwards on the team and Deng may actually see some playing time in Brooklyn, something he did not get any of last season with the Lakers.

Again, this is not a groundbreaking trade by any means. However, it is both team’s best utilization of what it has and will put both sides better off in the future.