**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins

[Brosizzlew30.23]

Time to crank it up gentlemen. 3 days til dealtime.

Dragic
Monk
Bron
DFS
AD

Nunn, Trent Jr, Ariza, Melo, Dwight, Reaves, Johnson, THT, Burke, Ellington

We not done though.....

 

[Brosizzlew30.23]

Dragic
Monk
Bron
DFS
AD


Burke, Trent Jr, Ross, Melo, Ariza, Bamba, Dwight, Reaves, Johnson

Ballgame.

 

[sohi 23]

 

[pmatic]

 

[htg designs]

Feel like anybody we trade Russ for, as long as they are familiar with circles, is an upgrade. And if they have some basketball background, we will make the playoffs.

 

[tupac003]

Seems like we have more than just one delusional fan....

 

[noblekane]

need tristan and augustin

 

[James_O]

Feel like anybody we trade Russ for, as long as they are familiar with circles, is an upgrade. And if they have some basketball background, we will make the playoffs.

Agreed, get dat ma outta here

 

[pmatic]

 

[sohi 23]

Thad Young & Gary Harris seem like the best buyout candidates to me.

 

[MIKE LOWERY]

Need wings and a decent big. TT gets let go he's signing in LA next day.

I like T. Prince over Young as Thad is like a 4/smallball 5 exclusively at this point and doesn't shoot at all. Don't know what Prince would do with 20+ minutes but it's better than what you have.

Gary Harris probably the best of the bunch. His offensive number are good this year, but I don't know if he still locks up.

Wouldn't trade for Josh Richardson depending on asking price. These buyout guys could end up being more productive. Unless it's to clear roster space.

 

[DLF]

Dragic
Monk
Bron
DFS
AD


Burke, Trent Jr, Ross, Melo, Ariza, Bamba, Dwight, Reaves, Johnson

Ballgame.

I applaud your enthusiasm for these trades. This is all we have to look forward to these days anyways. To those that call you delusional for these trades, just remember these are the same people that watch laker games and actually think the Lakers are doing anything And will make a miraculous come back. So the jokes on them.

 

[DLF]

I wouldn’t count on too many buyout players. The Lakers are a very undesirable team right now.

 

[sohi 23]

Totally agree about Thad might not being the right fit. I was thinking more in terms of best players but the playoffs are around the corner and we have to get players that fill our needs.

TT is for sure signing with the lakers when he gets let go lol. DJ won’t be let go until then. Agree about Richardson too. I’m not the biggest fan.

Would honestly see if we could get Josh Hart again lol.

 

[pmatic]

Tristan Thompson would help with the rebounding woes this team has, buuuut I think they could be better off with Thad Young as their small ball center. But a backup center is probably only getting 5-10 minutes when it matters.

 

[tay1]

I'd take Richardson for THT & a second. Still young and he's a defensive guard. Adding him & TT for the boards is an improvement in areas in which we need it.

 

[sohi 23]

I get that he’s our only trade piece but trading THT at his all time low value sucks.

 

[lovehateself]

need tristan and augustin

augustin not needed
let monk/AR get those pg min


tht / baze, 2nd round pick for richardson and dennis

 

[sohi 23]

Dame to LA train has officially started. All that loyalty he gave better result in Dame picking his preferred team

 

[MIKE LOWERY]

Totally agree about Thad might not being the right fit. I was thinking more in terms of best players but the playoffs are around the corner and we have to get players that fill our needs.

TT is for sure signing with the lakers when he gets let go lol. DJ won’t be let go until then. Agree about Richardson too. I’m not the biggest fan.

Would honestly see if we could get Josh Hart again lol.

I don't know how much they value him, but I'd move pretty much anybody outside Bron/AD/Monk for Hart. He's exactly what they need.

Not sure what direction NO is moving in because it looks like they got an outside shot at the playoffs, but probably no Zion means they may as well tank and get even more picks to make a big run next year when he does and try to convince him to extend and actually stay.

But Josh Hart pretty much fits in with whatever you wanna do offensively and defenisvely. Not a knock down shooter tho. He's even developing as a playmaker/secondary ballhandler. Not gonna happen, but I'd trade for him before they figure out they got a legit developing 3+D guy on a modest deal.

 

[pmatic]

Josh Hart would be the best rebounder on this team.

 

[DLF]

Dame to la incoming. Arye confirmed.

 

[noblekane]

portland aint trading dame to the lakers. their ***** *** fanbase would burn that city alive.

 

[pmatic]

Spoiler

THT and Nunn talk, saving picks and the buyout market: What we’re hearing about Lakers ahead of trade deadline

With Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET NBA trade deadline swiftly approaching, one of the dominant topics at Monday’s Lakers practice was the future of the roster.

While acknowledging that it’s difficult to project his group’s ceiling due to all of their injuries this season, head coach Frank Vogel said that the Lakers will have to determine their approach at the trade deadline based on the season’s limited sample size.

“You have to just evaluate what you’ve had,” Vogel said. “You can’t focus on what you haven’t had. You evaluate on the body of work that our guys have put forth so far. And understanding that we haven’t been whole the whole year, for most of the year, and you make whatever decisions based on that.”

LeBron James said he’s ready to proceed with the current group, while also conceding that the Lakers should improve their roster — comparing the situation to the Rams adding Odell Beckham Jr. en route to the Super Bowl — if the right trade is available.

“I don’t really like to play fantasy basketball,” James said. “So this is the group that we have going into the deadline and we’ll be ready to take on all challenges that this season has given us. If there’s an opportunity — I’ve said this every year — if there’s an opportunity for you to get better, then you explore those options. That’s always been (my stance).

“I’ve been like that my whole career. I’ve said it over and over. If you have an opportunity to get better, no one turns that down.”

Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka has said multiple times over the past three seasons that he views his relationships with James and Anthony Davis, respectively, as partnerships and that he consults with them on all personnel moves.

James declined to answer whether he’s been consulted by Pelinka ahead of the deadline.

“You got to ask Rob that question,” James said.

The Lakers’ lack optionality at the trade deadline. Their salary sheet is full of maximum and minimum players — contracts that are challenging to move. Their roster is at the league limit of 15 players, meaning they can’t acquire an extra player in a deal. They have limited draft capital — they can trade either their 2027 or 2028 first-round draft pick (but not both), as well as multiple second-round picks.

Two players stand out as obvious trade candidates because of their midsized contracts: Talen Horton-Tucker ($9.5 million) and Kendrick Nunn ($5 million). Horton-Tucker, 21, has had his role has fluctuated as he’s struggled to live up to the three-year, $30.8 million contract he signed this offseason. Nunn, the Lakers’ taxpayer midlevel exception signing, has yet to play in a game this season due to a nagging right knee bone bruise.

The most likely outcome for the Lakers is that they stand pat with their current roster through Thursday’s deadline. But if they make a trade, it would likely be in the form of moving Horton-Tucker and/or Nunn for a more impactful two-way player, according to league sources.

The issue for the Lakers is finding players that fit the criteria. There aren’t many productive role players on midsized contracts available. The trade market for Horton-Tucker has also significantly cooled since last season, according to league sources.

Any team trading for Horton-Tucker will be assuming the risk of potentially only getting one additional season out of him — Horton-Tucker has a player option for 2023-24 — before deciding if they want to re-sign him if he decides to test unrestricted free agency as a 22-year-old in 2023.

The Lakers have reason to not be aggressive with their 2027 first-round pick, as it would give them the flexibility to make bigger moves this offseason, including, most notably, trading Westbrook and getting out of the $47 million they will owe him in 2022-23.

The Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick becomes tradeable on July 1, 2022, meaning that if they retain their 2027 first-round pick past the deadline, they could attach two first-round picks (2027 and 2029) as a sweetener in a Westbrook deal this summer. They would likely be looking to acquire another star who’s a better fit alongside James and Davis.

Other than trying to move Horton-Tucker and/or Nunn, the next-most likely move for the Lakers would be dumping the contract of one of DeAndre Jordan or Kent Bazemore, either via trade or buyout, according to league sources. The goal would be to both save money on their $150-plus million cap sheet and to create an additional roster spot, according to league sources.

Creating an additional roster spot isn’t as much of a priority for the Lakers as in seasons past as they are no longer viewed as a bona fide contender the way they were entering the season. A ring-chasing veteran could certainly help them — the depth of the buyout market remains unclear — but the Lakers’ appeal, at least for this season, doesn’t appear to be as high as it has been in recent seasons.

The Lakers have mixed success on the buyout market over the past two seasons, adding Markieff Morris, who played a pivotal role for the 2019-20 championship team in the bubble, and Andre Drummond, who replaced Marc Gasol as the starting center for the 2020-21 group and underwhelmed to the point that he was eventually benched in the postseason.

The Lakers remain confident that, despite their middling 26-28 record, their ninth-place standing in the West, and the team ranking in the bottom half of the league offensively (23rd in offensive rating) and defensively (16th in defensive rating), they can still contend as long as James and Davis are healthy.

“Our optimism goes back to the offseason,” Vogel said. “I think when your starting point is LeBron James and Anthony Davis, you’ve got a chance.”

The next 48 hours will determine the players that surround the Lakers’ two foundational superstars as they attempt to finally turn their season around.

 

[noblekane]

can we trade tht for a second round drafte pick?