2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

i feel like the star hunting squares with having little faith in lebron as a top-5 player, tbh. two years ago, we didn't need another star-level offensive creator. i'm not sure that's true anymore.

anyway, if it were up to me, i'd try to get rozier/oubre/plumlee for maybe a second rounder. if they want a first, i want washington, too.

then we have a first, nunn, and bevs in case something else happens (that offer might be good enough for turner at the deadline if nobody steps up with an actual player to trade for him).

 

Well according to Buha...

The Lakers’ updated timeline on beginning to explore trade options is Dec. 15, and they are weighing three different paths, multiple team sources told The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:

• Path 1 is to trade Russell Westbrook, plus a pick or two, for a star or multiplayer haul.
• Path 2 is to trade some combination of Patrick Beverley, Kendrick Nunn and picks (one first-round and/or multiple second-round picks) for role players who better address needs and upgrade the rotation.
• Path 3 would be two separate deals: one with Westbrook plus one first-round pick, another using a Beverley-Nunn-pick package.

Backstory
The Lakers are 8-12, sitting 13th in the Western Conference, but have won six of their last eight games.

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The Lakers have been trying to determine if they prefer a smaller trade or a bigger one to address their need for better perimeter shooting and/or size, The Athletic previously reported. That includes deciding if they want to include one or both of their tradeable future first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 in any deal. The Lakers are reluctant to give up both unless there’s a trade or series of trades they believe will elevate them to contender status.

Los Angeles weighed trading Westbrook during the offseason, but ultimately held on to him after determining the cost to shed him would be too great. He started off slowly, but has improved since coach Darvin Ham removed him from the starting lineup and inserted him into a sixth-man role.

The Lakers traded Talen Horton-Tucker to the Utah Jazz in exchange for the veteran Beverley in August. Beverley, 34, is averaging 4.2 points. 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game this season.

Nunn, 27, is in the final year of his deal in Los Angeles and has averaged 5.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

Dec. 15. is the first day that free agents who were signed in the offseason can be traded.

Which package is most likely?
The Lakers are leaning toward option No. 2 or 3 at this point, the team sources said. That would entail making a smaller move to marginally upgrade the roster while retaining the possibility of following up with a larger Westbrook deal later in the season.

The Lakers are still evaluating their roster as they near full health, with the team’s upcoming six-game East Coast road trip a potential swing factor in how aggressively the front office dangles their first-round picks on the trade market, according to a team source.

Why Beverley and Nunn?
Beverley ($13 million) and Nunn ($5.3 million) are both underperforming relative to their contracts. With the Lakers’ needs for additional size on the wing and a better complimentary big next to Anthony Davis, along with the roster’s glut of small guards, Beverley and/or Nunn are expendable. Packaged together, the Lakers could acquire a player or players in the $20 million range.

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The Lakers waived sharpshooter Matt Ryan on Thursday to reduce the roster to 14 players, as first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania. There are no immediate plans for the 15th roster spot, according to a team source. The Lakers can sign a free agent for the rest of the season or to a 10-day contract (beginning Jan. 5), or they can take back an extra player in a trade.

Required reading

• Will the Lakers make a trade to upgrade the roster? The time is now to decide

(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez / USA Today)

 

If it weren’t us I would probably agree about the star hunting. But we’ve just always liked stars so I don’t know how much I take from that. We would be dealing with Kawhi right now if the front office had been able to carry out the original plan.

I’m all in with trying to work a deal with Charlotte.

 

I've always suspected the "wait and see" approach was more about assessing whether LeBron and AD would be good enough even with an upgraded supporting cast as opposed to being unsure of how good the team is as currently constructed. Everyone knew this roster was too small and couldn't shoot. By that logic, with LeBron being a little shaky and AD playing well/staying healthy it makes sense to make a smaller move first and see if anything looks differently with a little more size on the roster.

 

Quite simply it was time, and we are in the repeater tax this season so is it worth having a guy who is keeping the bench warm shooting 1-9 from 3 his last 5 games eat up 10 million a year in mostly tax? Naw. His entire signing was based upon us having such an amazing defense that we could sneak him in on some units so he could sharpshoot. That didn't happen so no sense in prolonging the inevitable. Plus there is the extra roster spot just in case someone good presents themselves to us.

 

I can't buy this from a guy who says this team is top 3 in the west.

 

And others have virtually said the same here. Credit to those as well.

 

I suppose that's possible. Personally I don't buy that with all the trade assets and expiring the Lakers have which should be more and more attractive to teams needing the relief, starting in 2 short weeks, that the FO is too laughably dumb to not move what they can for pieces that will be valuable this year and importantly going forward with the cap space internally they are expecting to have. Unlike most of the board. Give it a week or sooner post Dec 15 deadline for at least a first move. That's my prediction.

 

Lol..Dude we are 3 games from top 3 in the West after losing 10 out of our 1st 12 games. The West isn't this monster you seem to think it is.Check back on that prediction in a couple of weeks.

 

Crappy prediction so far.

Only way for this team to get there is by trade.

I think you argued as currently constructed some weeks back, right?

 

It's all about LeBron and AD .... Champ!!! Over and Over in my best Bundini Brown "spirit voice".




..... well it is. Can't debate that. PLUS who we pick up in trades that better gel with our now core players. I'm a sucker possibly drinking the kool aid but I expect moves to be made at some point that will help our depth quality significantly.

 

Currently constructed we are 3 games from top 3 in the West aren't we? We most definitely can be there by this December 15th date. Again...the West isn't the beast you thought it was going to be. Let's see what happens, but NO...we don't need a trade to make up those 3 games...no we do not.

 

ROFL.

 

The good: seems we are making a deal. Something within the next couple weeks. Of the scenarios above, none of them were do nothing.

Then it seems we MAY look at the Russ thing again at the deadline. Not my ideal scenario, but I'll take some movement over nothing. I do wonder how willing we are to split the picks and send out both separately. What packages they're willing to do that for and is there another evaluation period after the next trade to see if that's the route to take?

 

beating bad teams dont make this team good

 

I would be very ok with this. I was also ok with the trade idea I’d Westbrook+Beverley and picks for Derozen, Vucevic, and Caruso. A trade like that solves a lot of problems with this team.

 

to be clear: my point is that they're star hunting because they need someone who can carry an offense in big moments.

i didn't like the kawhi pursuit and was on record at the time about it. we recovered nicely, but if i were gm, i would have just feigned enough interest to make the clips go all in. and hell, maybe that's exactly what rob did--nobody would consider this angle, however, because he's apparently satan and/or an idiot child.

charlotte is the way. do they know it? i feel like it's been destined since this time last year. and quite frankly, we've gained bargaining power since then. let's get it done.

if they balk for now, i'm ready to pull the trigger on a deal for eric gordon if it doesn't involve anything more than a 2nd rounder. then we wait until february and see who gets real desperate. we should be able to stay within striking distance for that amount of time, imo.