Los Angeles Lakers: Why Lonzo Ball should be untouchable this offseason
By Jason Reed
2. The Los Angeles Lakers can trade from other areas of the roster
When it comes to making any trades this offseason the Los Angeles Lakers have three primary trade chips that will be intriguing to watch: Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Ball. These three men make up the foundation of the young core and appeared to be the building blocks for the future.
However, desperate to save face and to get a second star to win as soon as possible, the Lakers front office does not seem to be against trading this young core for a big name. Heck, the leaked Pelicans trade talks indicated that the Lakers were literally willing to give up the entire young core for AD.
Magic Johnson might be out of the picture but the motives for the Lakers remain the same. If the front office cannot lure a star in via free agency, they are going to make a trade.
The thing about Ingram and Kuzma, though, is that the team has depth at the forward position to trade from. The team essentially has three starting-level forwards to play two positions and can afford to part ways with Kuzma or Ingram.
Heck, the team could even part ways with both if it meant landing Davis. Davis could play the four with LeBron at the three and all the team would need is a sharpshooting two guard and a decent center, like JaVale McGee.
When it comes to point guard, however, the Lakers are thin. With Rajon Rondo becoming a free agent Ball is the only point guard on the roster for next season. Sure, you could count Josh Hart as a combo guard and include Isaac Bonga, but c’mon.
The depth at point guard is not nearly as prevalent as it is at forward, which is the area that the Lakers can most easily dip into.