Lakers Trade IDEAS

[sonnyhill]

I honestly dont see a path to the Lakers keeping westbrook. With the 3 big contracts on the roster it makes it nearly impossible to upgrade the roster. We will be stuck with min contracts like we were last year. Looking at the FA class the PG and SF list is really bad. Which is why i lean going all in on the Charlotte trade and trying to get Hayward and Rozier. I personally think where Lakers are they have no choice but to go in. I dont think you can waste another year of Lebron and AD. Here is my all out scenerio.

Russ Westbrook - $47,063478 Lakers also throw in 27 first top 4 protected.
For
Hayward and Rozier - $51,561,316 - Hornets save nearly 75 million in future salary leaving room to sign Bridges.

THT and Nunn - $15,510,000
For
Kenrich WIlliams, Mike Muscala and Derrick Favors - 15,683,800

With these trades and adding in Reaves, Gabriel, and Johnson Lakers stand at $153,803,735. This is important because to use the taxpayer MLE you are hard-capped at 155.7 million. Can the Lakers move Favors contract to drop to a total of 143 million allowing them to use the TPMLE? If not they keep his expiring to possibly move at the deadline. Fill out the roster with players like...


PG- Terry Rozier - Aaron Holiday - Mac McClung
SG- Austin Reaves - Kent Bazemore - Mychal Mulder
SF- Gordan Hayward - Kenrich Williams - Stanley Johnson
PF- Lebron James - Weynen Gabriel - Open for draft pick?
C- Anthony Davis - Derrick Favors - Mike Muscala

I'm guessing Rob and co are deluding themselves into thinking extra time team to mesh plus a 'better' coach are enough to take this team over the hump. I think they're dead wrong. Like you've laid out the salary cap constraints, it's nearly impossible to keep the big 3 and upgrade the roster. After next season I think we'll regret not blowing this team up.

You are probably correct in your assessment of the team.

The wild card is Phil.

He knows that this team cannot compete with a ball-dominant and aging LeBron, a fragile AD, and Westbrook as the core. While Phil was a disaster in his stint running the Knicks, no one can deny that Phil is smart and knows winning basketball.

Perhaps keeping LeBron and trading away AD for perimeter 3-and-D guys and trying to blend-in Westbrook may be another strategy for how to rebuild the roster going into next season.

For as frustrating as it was to watch this past season, LeBron still has high-level skills.

Hopefully, the head coaching hire will bring some clarity on determining which direction the Lakers go with its roster building.

[loveshaq786]

If we do the trade with Charlotte with Westbrook for scary Terry and Gordon Hayward, I would love to flip Gordon Hayward for Julius randle.

[Eric Bieniemy]

Davis and Westbrook for Lavine, Ball, Vucevic, and Caruso.

Not sure if you can attach multiple players to a sign and trade (Lavine), but you could always break up the trade into two parts if that's the case.

I still think the Brogdon for Westbrook and picks is the best deal though.

[Landsberger]

I'd trade Westbrook for a handful of magic beans if he took Melo with him and the Lakers promised to never ever have Chris Paul on this team....

[John Murdoch]

[Liam_Gallagher]

I think the team has absolutely no chance to succeed with LeBron and Westbrook on the same team. People keep saying LeBron needs to play off-ball at this stage of his career but I'm not sure why. I also don't think he's able to operate that way. LeBron is at his best when he's the point guard on offense. It doesn't make sense to pair him with a ball dominant player unless you really stagnate them both (Rondo and LeBron staggered their minutes perfectly).

I like the Westbrook to CHA trade, but I question the fit with Hayward, Rozier and LeBron. I would instead want some 3&D players. Ironically players like KCP and Danny Green are perfect fits. Maybe that's why we won it all with them haha.

[Eric Bieniemy]

Keep hearing Westbrook for Irving rumors. It's obviously a supreme fit for the Lakers, but it absolutely sucks that if not for the presence of of Simmons it would actually be a great fit for Brooklyn as well.

Without Simmons, Brooklyn has elite shooters at PF, SG, and SF that would compliment Westbrook perfectly.

Long-story short, with Simmons in tow, there is no way that Brooklyn takes back Westbrook.

[TylersLakers]

I honestly dont see a path to the Lakers keeping westbrook. With the 3 big contracts on the roster it makes it nearly impossible to upgrade the roster. We will be stuck with min contracts like we were last year. Looking at the FA class the PG and SF list is really bad. Which is why i lean going all in on the Charlotte trade and trying to get Hayward and Rozier. I personally think where Lakers are they have no choice but to go in. I dont think you can waste another year of Lebron and AD. Here is my all out scenerio.

Russ Westbrook - $47,063478 Lakers also throw in 27 first top 4 protected.
For
Hayward and Rozier - $51,561,316 - Hornets save nearly 75 million in future salary leaving room to sign Bridges.

THT and Nunn - $15,510,000
For
Kenrich WIlliams, Mike Muscala and Derrick Favors - 15,683,800

With these trades and adding in Reaves, Gabriel, and Johnson Lakers stand at $153,803,735. This is important because to use the taxpayer MLE you are hard-capped at 155.7 million. Can the Lakers move Favors contract to drop to a total of 143 million allowing them to use the TPMLE? If not they keep his expiring to possibly move at the deadline. Fill out the roster with players like...


PG- Terry Rozier - Aaron Holiday - Mac McClung
SG- Austin Reaves - Kent Bazemore - Mychal Mulder
SF- Gordan Hayward - Kenrich Williams - Stanley Johnson
PF- Lebron James - Weynen Gabriel - Open for draft pick?
C- Anthony Davis - Derrick Favors - Mike Muscala

This would be my dream of an off-season. They would also have the tax-payer MLE to spend ($5.9M) to spend.

I would do both of those trades and then -

- Re-sign Malik Monk, 1 year, $5.9M
- Sign Delon Wright, Carmelo, Tony Snell, Derrick Jones Jr to vet minimums

PG: Rozier/Wright/
SG: Williams/Monk/Reaves/Snell
SF: Hayward/Jones Jr/Stanley
PF: LeBron/Melo/Gabriel
C: Davis/Favors/Muscala

That's a title-contending team, IMO if LeBron and AD remain pretty healthy. Davis playing 68+ and LeBron playing 60+.

Also, if Hayward goes down, you have enough wing depth with Williams, Snell, Jones Jr, Stanley, Gabriel to slide into his minutes. It's not like last year where you're taking smaller guys like Bradley and Monk and having them fill wing positions.

Wright is also a fantastic defensive guard. I could see a LeBron plus bench line-up of Wright/Monk/LeBron/Melo/Muscala eating offensively. LeBron can roam as a rotator and you actually have a point of attack defender in Wright. Monk/Melo/Muscala provide elite spacing.

[Lakers24gm]

I honestly dont see a path to the Lakers keeping westbrook. With the 3 big contracts on the roster it makes it nearly impossible to upgrade the roster. We will be stuck with min contracts like we were last year. Looking at the FA class the PG and SF list is really bad. Which is why i lean going all in on the Charlotte trade and trying to get Hayward and Rozier. I personally think where Lakers are they have no choice but to go in. I dont think you can waste another year of Lebron and AD. Here is my all out scenerio.

Russ Westbrook - $47,063478 Lakers also throw in 27 first top 4 protected.
For
Hayward and Rozier - $51,561,316 - Hornets save nearly 75 million in future salary leaving room to sign Bridges.

THT and Nunn - $15,510,000
For
Kenrich WIlliams, Mike Muscala and Derrick Favors - 15,683,800

With these trades and adding in Reaves, Gabriel, and Johnson Lakers stand at $153,803,735. This is important because to use the taxpayer MLE you are hard-capped at 155.7 million. Can the Lakers move Favors contract to drop to a total of 143 million allowing them to use the TPMLE? If not they keep his expiring to possibly move at the deadline. Fill out the roster with players like...


PG- Terry Rozier - Aaron Holiday - Mac McClung
SG- Austin Reaves - Kent Bazemore - Mychal Mulder
SF- Gordan Hayward - Kenrich Williams - Stanley Johnson
PF- Lebron James - Weynen Gabriel - Open for draft pick?
C- Anthony Davis - Derrick Favors - Mike Muscala

This would be my dream of an off-season. They would also have the tax-payer MLE to spend ($5.9M) to spend.

I would do both of those trades and then -

- Re-sign Malik Monk, 1 year, $5.9M
- Sign Delon Wright, Carmelo, Tony Snell, Derrick Jones Jr to vet minimums

PG: Rozier/Wright/
SG: Williams/Monk/Reaves/Snell
SF: Hayward/Jones Jr/Stanley
PF: LeBron/Melo/Gabriel
C: Davis/Favors/Muscala

That's a title-contending team, IMO if LeBron and AD remain pretty healthy. Davis playing 68+ and LeBron playing 60+.

Also, if Hayward goes down, you have enough wing depth with Williams, Snell, Jones Jr, Stanley, Gabriel to slide into his minutes. It's not like last year where you're taking smaller guys like Bradley and Monk and having them fill wing positions.

Wright is also a fantastic defensive guard. I could see a LeBron plus bench line-up of Wright/Monk/LeBron/Melo/Muscala eating offensively. LeBron can roam as a rotator and you actually have a point of attack defender in Wright. Monk/Melo/Muscala provide elite spacing.

I don’t think they can use the tax payer MLE as is. It would hard cap them and they wouldn’t be able to fill out the roster. That’s my biggest thing on why I’m moving THT as well as Russ to add players with salary that can be dealt.

[SK21209]

Keep hearing Westbrook for Irving rumors. It's obviously a supreme fit for the Lakers, but it absolutely sucks that if not for the presence of of Simmons it would actually be a great fit for Brooklyn as well.

Without Simmons, Brooklyn has elite shooters at PF, SG, and SF that would compliment Westbrook perfectly.

Long-story short, with Simmons in tow, there is no way that Brooklyn takes back Westbrook.

Yeah, Russ + Simmons is a nonstarter so Russ would have to be redirected somewhere else. So maybe there's a framework where we get Kyrie and the Nets essentially do one of these Russ trades we've been hearing about:

Lakers in: Kyrie
Lakers out: Russ, 2027 FRP, 2029 FRP

Nets out: Kyrie
Nets in: Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, 2029 FRP

Hornets out: Hayward, Rozier
Hornets in: Russ, 2027 FRP

Nets: Rozier/Curry/Hayward/Simmons/Durant
Lakers: Kyrie/Reaves/LBJ/AD

The biggest obstacle is the Nets taking on that kind of long-term money, but I think that Nets lineup would be an absolute killer offensively.

[Eric Bieniemy]

Keep hearing Westbrook for Irving rumors. It's obviously a supreme fit for the Lakers, but it absolutely sucks that if not for the presence of of Simmons it would actually be a great fit for Brooklyn as well.

Without Simmons, Brooklyn has elite shooters at PF, SG, and SF that would compliment Westbrook perfectly.

Long-story short, with Simmons in tow, there is no way that Brooklyn takes back Westbrook.

Yeah, Russ + Simmons is a nonstarter so Russ would have to be redirected somewhere else. So maybe there's a framework where we get Kyrie and the Nets essentially do one of these Russ trades we've been hearing about:

Lakers in: Kyrie
Lakers out: Russ, 2027 FRP, 2029 FRP

Nets out: Kyrie
Nets in: Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, 2029 FRP

Hornets out: Hayward, Rozier
Hornets in: Russ, 2027 FRP

Nets: Rozier/Curry/Hayward/Simmons/Durant
Lakers: Kyrie/Reaves/LBJ/AD

The biggest obstacle is the Nets taking on that kind of long-term money, but I think that Nets lineup would be an absolute killer offensively.

If that Charlotte Westbrook trade was available, I think he'd be traded by now.

[SK21209]

Keep hearing Westbrook for Irving rumors. It's obviously a supreme fit for the Lakers, but it absolutely sucks that if not for the presence of of Simmons it would actually be a great fit for Brooklyn as well.

Without Simmons, Brooklyn has elite shooters at PF, SG, and SF that would compliment Westbrook perfectly.

Long-story short, with Simmons in tow, there is no way that Brooklyn takes back Westbrook.

Yeah, Russ + Simmons is a nonstarter so Russ would have to be redirected somewhere else. So maybe there's a framework where we get Kyrie and the Nets essentially do one of these Russ trades we've been hearing about:

Lakers in: Kyrie
Lakers out: Russ, 2027 FRP, 2029 FRP

Nets out: Kyrie
Nets in: Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, 2029 FRP

Hornets out: Hayward, Rozier
Hornets in: Russ, 2027 FRP

Nets: Rozier/Curry/Hayward/Simmons/Durant
Lakers: Kyrie/Reaves/LBJ/AD

The biggest obstacle is the Nets taking on that kind of long-term money, but I think that Nets lineup would be an absolute killer offensively.

If that Charlotte Westbrook trade was available, I think he'd be traded by now.

Russ hasn’t picked up his player option yet, we can’t do anything with him until he does.

[MalagaBulls]

Although the majority of tweets are fan hopes or opinions, do you peeps have any one with good Intel on the "Zach wants to go to LA" rumors? Like someone close enough to Klutch to have some sort of intel?

Is this guy reliable?

Read on Twitter

[Eric Bieniemy]

Yeah, Russ + Simmons is a nonstarter so Russ would have to be redirected somewhere else. So maybe there's a framework where we get Kyrie and the Nets essentially do one of these Russ trades we've been hearing about:

Lakers in: Kyrie
Lakers out: Russ, 2027 FRP, 2029 FRP

Nets out: Kyrie
Nets in: Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, 2029 FRP

Hornets out: Hayward, Rozier
Hornets in: Russ, 2027 FRP

Nets: Rozier/Curry/Hayward/Simmons/Durant
Lakers: Kyrie/Reaves/LBJ/AD

The biggest obstacle is the Nets taking on that kind of long-term money, but I think that Nets lineup would be an absolute killer offensively.

If that Charlotte Westbrook trade was available, I think he'd be traded by now.

Russ hasn’t picked up his player option yet, we can’t do anything with him until he does.

Indeed. I don't believe the rumors though. I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around the idea that some team will relinquish actual NBA talent for Westbrook. He was absolutely atrocious last year. Hayward or Brogdon would have to break their legs tomorrow for those deals to plauisible. Them being injury prone isn't enough for them to be traded to the Lakers. They would have to be actually injured.

There's rumors of Charlotte hiring D'Antoni. If that happens, no way they trade Rozier and probably not Hayward.

[loveshaq786]

Trade Westbrook and a first for brogdon and hield.... We need to stop being stubborn with our first pick. If Brogdon is healthy, this is a deal of a lifetime. He is so underrated. Can shoot the three ball, he is tall, and he plays amazing defense.

If we trade Anthony Davis,.. I don't think we should ask for Zach lavine, unless he's asking for a deal less than DeRozan's. I rather have DeMar DeRozan, Caruso, and Nikola for AD, THT and Nunn. Chicago gets two natives in this deal. Or is it 3 lol.

The deal with Indiana is good enough for us to be formidable!

[zimpy27]

A new frontrunner for trades is the Magic.

Magic have bird rights for Gary Harris and Mo Bamba. Lakers could decide to go for SnTs that hardcap them but would open the use of the $10m MLE and $4m BAE.

Magic can take Westbrook and give salary back to Lakers in the form of Ross or Fultz with both Bamba and Harris as SnTs. The beautiful thing about it is that Magic aren't giving all that much up and so pick compensation could be less.

[tamaraw08]

A new frontrunner for trades is the Magic.

Magic have bird rights for Gary Harris and Mo Bamba. Lakers could decide to go for SnTs that hardcap them but would open the use of the $10m MLE and $4m BAE.

Magic can take Westbrook and give salary back to Lakers in the form of Ross or Fultz with both Bamba and Harris as SnTs. The beautiful thing about it is that Magic aren't giving all that much up and so pick compensation could be less.

Thanks, please share link. It's great Orlando is interested in absorbing Westbrook but I just can't see those incoming players making significant impact for the Lakers. I like Harris, Mamba is still a bit raw IMO but i would prefer Brogdon/Hield or Rozier fillers. I'm not sure though that their team are really letting them go.

[stan francisco]

Davis and Westbrook for Lavine, Ball, Vucevic, and Caruso.

Not sure if you can attach multiple players to a sign and trade (Lavine), but you could always break up the trade into two parts if that's the case.

I still think the Brogdon for Westbrook and picks is the best deal though.

I dig your Chicago trade even though I think we’d have to add Reaves or S Johnson or alike for that package to do it for them.

Don’t know enough about Brogdon but if it means Westbrook leaving, sign me up!

[scoobs07]

Davis and Westbrook for Lavine, Ball, Vucevic, and Caruso.

Not sure if you can attach multiple players to a sign and trade (Lavine), but you could always break up the trade into two parts if that's the case.

I still think the Brogdon for Westbrook and picks is the best deal though.

I thought you cant combine signed and traded players with other players. I hope they changed that rule. If they did, then that is an excellent trade. If not, then the Lakers could still find a way, but a bit more complicated.

Trade 1: Westbrook, 2027 1st, 2029 1st and cash to OKC for Favors and Muscala. Lakers need to do this in order to clear as much salary possible if they are going to be hard capped with the LaVine trade.

Trade 2: THT and Nunn to Chicago for LaVine (signed and traded). Even though, he is signing a 30 million + max deal, Lavine's salary counts for only 19 million for trade purposes.

Trade 3: AD to Chicago for Vucevic and White

Does anybody know if we could use the non tax payer MLE to sign Monk after this trade?

If not, I would try to use the tax payer MLE on a big wing such as Porter, Warren or Prince.

Potential line-up after trade:

PF-James/Anthony/Favors
SF-Porter/Johnson/Rookie
C-Vucevic/Howard/Muscala
PG-Reeves/Wall
SG-LaVine/White/Rookie

[LAL1947]

PF-James/Anthony/Favors
SF-Porter/Johnson/Rookie
C-Vucevic/Howard/Muscala
PG-Reeves/Wall
SG-LaVine/White/Rookie

I don't get it... what's this going to do for us? Lavine, Vucevic and White couldn't create a challenge to the Bucks with a better roster than this.

- DeRozan, Caruso, Pat Williams, Dosunmu, Brown Jr., DJJ, etc.

38-year old Lebon, Reaves and Otto Porter really gonna make more difference than the above?

Meanwhile, we give up two more FRPs at a time when we will really need them.