Happy Trade Season

I'm writing this on December 15. Some players signed this summer are now eligible to be traded, so let's take a look at a few names to pay attention to in the couple months before the deadline.

December 15 marks an important point in the NBA season. Players who signed as free agents this summer are now eligible to be traded and thus rings in the “beginning” of slop szn.

Is it an actually important date? Well, no. Still more players aren’t trade eligible until January 15. Think of it like MLB’s Opening Day. Yeah, it’s fun to celebrate but as there are roughly three zillion games still to go, it’s best not to actually think about what the day actually means.

But hey, for those of us who have the trade machine smack dab in the middle of our bookmarks tab, it may as well be Christmas Eve — or, like, Dranksgiving.

To celebrate, I’m going to offer up a list of names I’ve heard the Lakers are interested in, in no particular order. I’ll also throw together a fake trade just give you an idea of what it could cost the Lakers if such negotiations led to a deal.

I’m not including picks in such trades just because that’s such a fickle part of negotiations and it’s so early in the year. So basically, look at these as “this offer plus draft capital” just to keep things simple here.

Zach LaVine

This is the rumor that just won’t die, in no small part because LaVine is represented by Klutch Sports and it behooves news breakers to help them prop up a wholly uninspiring trade market.

No one is all that interested in an oft-injured, overpaid combo guard whose impact on winning is very much in question. Sure, if LaVine committed to play defense and facilitating for others, he could change that perception, but he’s been so richly rewarded for his current approach that there remains very real concern across the league there just isn’t any way to get him to do so.

LaVine isn’t at the end of his current contract with a whole bunch to prove. No, he’s in year two of an absolutely insane deal worth five-year, $215 million. Maybe in a few years he’ll rethink the way he uses his immense natural talent, but right now, no one is willing to give up what it would take to even match the $40 million in salary to acquire him, let alone attach it to the draft capital and young talent the Bulls are demanding.

So yeah, in short, I’ve been told in very certain terms: The Lakers are not interested in trading for Zach LaVine at this junction.

Alex Caruso

The placement of these two names is not accidental. Caruso is seen around the league as the antithesis to LaVine. He’s not nearly as well paid or naturally talented, but has tangibly helped his teams win at every stop. As such, his trade market is absolutely insane.

I’m told it would take at least one unprotected first-round pick and a second lightly protected first, plus help-now and win-later talent, for the Bulls to even consider answering the phone. Oh, and you’re going to be expected to take on one of their bad contracts. And even if you are willing to start negotiations at that price, there’s no real guarantee they’ll go anywhere because the Bulls do not want to trade him.

Essentially, Caruso is one of the very few things this Chicago organization has done right, and trading him would acknowledge this era has mostly been yet another waste of a few years. Add to that Bulls ownership’s disinterest in a full-on rebuild because of what it might do to ticket sales and, yeah, even with Caruso’s booming trade market (I can’t stress this enough… the Lakers and every single team with title aspirations wants him), chances are, he doesn’t get moved any time soon — if at all.

OG Anunoby

For years now, the entire league has waited breathlessly for Masai Ujiri to finally move on from the post-Kawhi Leonard core of Pascal Siakam, Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr., etc. Toronto already lost Fred VanVleet for nothing over the summer.

Surely he won’t make that mistake again, right? Right?? Riiiiiiiiight???

Siakam is almost assuredly out of the Lakers’ price range. Hell, Anonuby might be, too, but it’s close. My guess is the Lakers, if they get desperate, could wrangle up enough draft capital, contracts, and youth to get Ujiri to think about it.

Rob Pelinka and Ujiri have also held trade negotiations in the past, most notably when the Lakers were one Talen Horton-Tucker away from landing Kyle Lowry. Boy, that’s a fun what-if. My guess is they’ll do that dance again over the next couple months.

Anunoby would be a perfect fit for the type of wing-based, defensive identity that won the Lakers the inaugural In-Season Tournament. There are some injury and shooting concerns and he’s expecting a huge payday as soon as this summer, but if the Lakers consider themselves real championship contenders (they do), that’s a bridge you cross once the task ahead is taken care of.

I’m told the Lakers are interested in Anunoby, as well as other Raptors like Trent Jr. and even a third Dennis Schröder Lakers stint, but they aren’t alone in maintaining that interest and Ujiri is famously stubborn, so we’ll see.

Gary Trent Jr.

See everything I wrote above for Anunoby. The price would be a little lower, obviously, as Trent wouldn’t be as impactful an acquisition, but a shooting guard who defends well enough and can do other things if his shot isn’t falling? Sign me up.

The Lakers have been connected to Trent for a few years now and will be again this trade season. If they bring him in for D’Angelo Russell, they’d be wagering that Austin Reaves can handle primary ball-handler duties. They’re obviously confident in that gamble, but they’d likely look for some creativity on the other side of such a deal.

Kyle Kuzma

It’s a pretty hilariously poorly kept secret around the league how much Kuzma would like to return to the Lakers. That interest is mutual, too, per sources. The Russell Westbrook trade still echoes through the organization and fanbase like a piece of Grandma’s old China dish-ware that got knocked over on Christmas.

Since that fateful day, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has become an integral part of the Denver Nugget’s first championship and their pursuit of a repeat. The Washington Wizards obviously haven’t enjoyed anywhere near (or any, frankly) Denver’s success, but Kuz has become a very impressive player and the Lakers know he’d immediately step right back into the role he won a title in.

Kuzma is very popular as a trade target around the league and his price tag will be tough to swallow, considering it, like Caruso’s would essentially be added to compound the mistakes that there departures very clearly were when they happened. It’s going to cost at least one first-rounder, maybe a second heavily protected second first and/or several second rounders, plus a young talent and, obviously, the necessary contracts.

A Few Notes…

• My apologies for not writing nearly as often as promised. I’ve been looking for some source of steadier employment and that’s been my highest priority. I believe I’ve found at least the beginnings of that so my hope is to return to this more consistently moving forward.

  • As a result, I’ve made this piece free to all who either subscribe or care to. Hope you do the latter.

• As far as Lakers and trades goes, Russell is obviously the likeliest player to eventually be moved, but I’m told the Lakers are going to take their time.

  • They’re finally heading into deadline negotiations with the added leverage that comes with the fact that they don’t desperately need to make a deal as they have the last couple years. Keeping Russell beyond the deadline would be quite the surprise, but they have by no means made any concrete decisions on his future.

• I’m told Austin Reaves isn’t untouchable, but he may as well be. He’s a real playoff performer on an extreme value contract who the Lakers absolutely love having in the organization. If he’s moved, it would be for nothing short of the type of star who would make the Lakers unquestioned title favorites, and nothing less.

• After Russell, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent are the next likeliest Lakers to be moved because of their contract numbers.

  • As they were re-signed/signed this summer, though, the Lakers want to be absolutely sure the return would be legitimately impactful. With Hachimura in particular, who played well in last year’s playoffs, the Lakers would be looking for a bonafide starter/closer.

• Moving the young guys (Jalen Hood-Schifino, Max Christie, etc.) is going to be tricky.

  • Christie looks like he’s close to helping this season and JHS is on the complete opposite end of that spectrum. Teams might be nervous to bring on a guy (JHS) who frankly has barely played at all this season, so if he’s moved, it won’t be until he’s shown at least something on the court, whether that be for the Lakers or in the G-League.

• The Lakers are just barely ($1.2M) over the tax line this season. Look for them to make some deal that creeps them under that line to reset the repeater. They wouldn’t do something that makes them worse to get under that line, but if a trade they make also accomplishes that, I don’t think anyone in the organization would cry out in anger, either.

• Other names who came to mind but I didn’t write about because I ran out of time/space:

  • Jordan Clarkson, Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Dorian Finney-Smith, Royce O’Neale, Lonnie Walker IV, Gordon Hayward, Jerami Grant, Malcolm Brogdon, Keldon Johnson, Zach Collins

Alright. I think that covers it. Happy slop szn, everone.