Lakers: LA Can Make A Better Trade Than Botched Kyrie Irving Deal
Yes, Kyrie Irving is off the board, at least until the summer.
But never despair, Los Angeles Lakers fans. The sinking Toronto Raptors should be exploring a fire sale, and they have oodles of pieces that could suit a team so desperately in need of quality role player depth like LA, in a way that could help the team longer term and not provide the kind of off-court drama that seems to follow Irving everywhere.
During a recent conversation on The Bill Simmons Podcast last week, The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor pitched a trade to his colleagues Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan and Rob Mahoney that gives LA the kind of high-scoring backcourt help that Irving would have provided, with none of the headaches, along with a big switchy two-way bench wing option. Best of all, two of the three players have championship pedigree.
O'Connor proposed a deal centered around the expiring $47.1 million contract of Russell Westbrook, along with its two movable future first round draft picks, in 2027 and 2029, plus a second rounder. LA would ship this package out to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for 2022 All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet, swingman Gary Trent Jr., and combo forward Otto Porter Jr.
"That sounds good, that's an interesting team, but I still have a ton of questions, and I still think there are multiple teams that are better than whatever they [throw] out," Simmons responded.
That's a fair appraisal, but it would also represent a massive leap forward for a club whose third-best player is probably worse than both VanVleet and Trent, and less useful in the end of the game than all three of those current Raptors players.
"It gets them closer," Mahoney chimed in. "And I like the components of that. Even just a Gary Trent Jr. trade is attractive for the Lakers, for me. But I think there's too much ground to make up. The top of the West is so far ahead of them... even if they completed a trade like that, they still have significant holes, they still need frontcourt help, they still maybe don't have enough length, as far as a traditional wing."
Rui Hachimura and Porter give LA some length on the perimeter, as theoretically do Troy Brown Jr. and Juan Toscano-Anderson, though neither of the two latter players can be counted on to play big minutes. The 6'9" James, now best utilized as a power forward, can play spot minutes on the wing as well.
"You have to think about what their expectations were or are for this season, and also what would constitute a successful season for the Lakers," Ryan cautioned. "I know everybody talks title town here, but if LeBron breaks Kareem's record -- which he's going to do -- and they get a second round playoff exit, isn't that a successful season?"
"I think he's happy to be in LA, that's part of it Chris, you're right," O'Connor concurred. "I think for them, it's about what's the best path forward for getting that title team."
Suddenly, the Lakers would have a starting five of Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis, with a probable bench rotation of Dennis Schroder, Lonnie Walker IV, Austin Reaves, Porter, Thomas Bryant, and maybe even Brown and Wenyen Gabriel when matchups dictate. That's a pretty solid first 10-12 players, though the bench would be a bit undersized outside of Porter and Bryant. If LA could find a way to flip Patrick Beverley's expiring $13 million contract into an actual quality role player (perhaps for a future pick swap and another second round selection?), that could go that much further towards building out the club's hypothetical depth.
Does this club beat the Denver Nuggets or the Memphis Grizzlies after the deadline? Possibly not, but those teams are a Michael Porter Jr. or Ja Morant ankle sprain away from looking very different in the postseason.
