Los Angeles Lakers: Three players to target starting Dec. 15
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers can start trading their recently signed players on Dec. 15. Who should the Lakers be shopping for once that date hits?
The Los Angeles Lakers front office, led by Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka, had an obvious goal in mind after signing LeBron James on the first day of free agency.
The team was planning on bringing in a second superstar to compliment James, most likely being Paul George. When that fell through, the front office had to focus on filling out the rest of the roster without restricting the team’s spending in the future.
At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to add another superstar and win the NBA Championship. The Lakers cannot do that without cap space.
What the Lakers did was predictable. The team reached out to several different veteran NBA players and signed them to one-year deals. Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee were brought into a young Lakers core with LeBron.
Throw in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who agreed to a one-year deal for the second consecutive season with the Lakers, and the team was set. The roster was filled out and none of the new signings were carrying over in the 2019 offseason.
Things have actually gone pretty well for the Lakers, but of course, there is always an area to improve. With the already busy front office and the fact that LeBron’s teams always make midseason moves, the Lakers are likely going to make a move in some capacity this season.
The date to circle is Dec. 15. That is the day that the Lakers can trade any one of the one-year signees from the summer. Here are three players that the team should target with those assets.