The Lakers Are Going To Do It Again..

The Lakers Are Going To Do It Again..

This season hasn’t gone nearly as expected for the Los Angeles Lakers they currently sit at 500 with a record of 21 and 21 good enough for only the 10th seed in the Western Conference but if last season told us anything it is not time to be counting them out just yet a

Year ago they found themselves in a very similar spot they started with a nearly identical 19 and 21 record come the trade deadline things had only gotten worse they were 25 and 31 Hope was starting to get lost and rightfully so they had to make a last itch effort and

Ultimately decided to make three separate deals that pretty much flipp the entire roster on its head some of the deals ended up involving multiple teams so to make things a little less confusing here’s everything combined they sent Thomas Bryant Patrick Beverly juanda Scana werson Russell Westbrook Damen Jones Kendrick nun and their first

Round pick in 2027 at first glance it seems like a ton and it definitely was from a quantity standpoint but really the only thing that represented much value was that 20127 first which they also managed to add a top four protection to in return they received Malik Beasley Jared vbill D’Angelo

Russell ruy haimura moamba and Devin Reed this level of roster change is rarely seen by a team during the offseason they did this with only months left in the regular season but somehow it worked it worked better than they could have even imagined after the deadline the Lakers finish the season

With a record of 18-8 a record only toau by the Milwaukee Bucks in that time and they did that only having LeBron for half the games the addition of D’Angelo Russell and just as notable the emergence of Austin Reed which happened in large part due to all the addition by

Subtraction at the deadline saw instant results they went from the 18th to the 14th ranked offense the additions of guys like Jared Vanderbilt and ruy hachimura led to defensive dominance to close the year not just because of what they brought individually but what they brought to the rotation and how they

Allowed Anthony Davis to thrive on that end prior to the deadline they were a middle of the pack defensive unit following they were the second best in the entire league they managed to finish as the seven seed Advanced from the playin tournament took out the Grizzlies

And round one the Warriors in round two before falling to the eventual Champion Denver Nuggets it was an historic turnaround that will be looked back on for years to come but also one that put a whole new level of expectations on the team entering this season it really

Looked like they would just be building upon that success they managed to bring back pretty much the entire playoff core they got new deals done for ruy DLo Reeves Vanderbilt the only major loss was Dennis rer but that didn’t seem like an issue at all they had brought and

Gave Vincent in free agency they had selected Indiana guard Jay Hood chafino with the 17th pick in the draft outside of the back hord they had signed torian Prince Christian Wood they took some flyers on guys like cam reddish and Jackson Hayes you really couldn’t ask for a much better offseason given the

Circumstances but unfortunately once again the Lakers have found themselves starting the year far below expectations some of the struggles can be attributed to injury gab Vincent went down just a few games into the Year Jared vanderbel missed the first chunk of the Season ruy missed some games but even when this

Team has been pretty much fully healthy they haven’t come close to being that team we saw at the end of last season defensively they’re middle of the pack offensively they’re bottom eight something needs to change and quickly so with that being the case it’s really only a matter of time before they try

And replicate that success they found in the trade market a year ago pinka deserves all the credit in the world for that success last season but the job is much different this time around they’re not going to have the luxury of a week beat up Western Conference when they

Were able to climb to the seventh seed they did that with only 43 wins this year that might not even be enough to make the play in last season they wanted and needed to gut the entire roster around LeBron and AD this season so much of this core is really strong the goal

Now is likely what Lakers fans have been fantasizing about for years now a blockbuster deal for a big name that can potentially be that true third option and as we get closer and closer to the deadline the odds of that happening are getting more and more realistic early on

In the season the name that was brought up constantly was Zack LaVine especially after those reports came out of there being this mutual interest between him and the Bulls on moving on we saw reports such as this one from the athletic all signs are pointing to these teams eventually finding common ground

On a deal that works for both sides but those reports have vanished in fact reports now suggest that the Bulls will likely had to add assets to any LaVine trade to escape his massive contract that contract in combination with his numbers being down across the board already dealing with an injury so far

And seeing the bulls actually have more success without him seems to have taken LaVine off the Lakers list trade targets so now we’re seeing a new name brought up one that seems to be gaining more and more traction with the deadline only a couple weeks away the jonte Murray now

This is a move that’s interesting this is a move that really might have the chance to change the landscape of the Western Conference the same could not be said when it came to LaVine in order for the Lakers to match his $40 million salary they would have to give up

Multiple important pieces of this rotation to reach Toon’s 18 the Lakers have tons tons of options some of which involve getting rid of little to really nothing from this current rotation based on all the reports we’re hearing in combination with the Vegas odds having Los Angeles as the heavy favorite to be

Marie’s next stop a big move between the Lakers and Hawks seems to be imminent but what would a trade actually look like I’m very bullish about the addition of djon to this group but that’s highly dependent on what the package looks like their top assets currently are clearly

Austin Reeves in his contract that pays him less than $15 million a season over the next 3 years years then their first round pick in 2029 which is actually the only first rounder they can move right now they’ll also have the ability to send pick swaps in 26 28 and 2030

They’ve got guys like ruy hachimura Jared Vanderbilt and D’Angelo Russell with only one year left on his contract they’ve also got a couple young guys like Max Christie Maxwell Lewis and their most recent first round pick Jaylen Hood chafino whatever trade we see from the Lakers is going to involve

Some combination of this pool of assets but here’s where things get a little tougher the Lakers reportedly do not want to let go of Austin Reeves and ideally ruy haimura for that to happen the package would be either D’Angelo Russell or Gabe Vincent for salary purposes likely rookie jayen Hood

Chafino along with that 2029 first and at least one of those pick swaps a package that would make their long-term future a little more concerning but easily the best key scenario in the short term the inclusion of Austin Reeds would allow the Lakers to retain a lot

Of their draft Capital but how much would that trade really move the needle for them being able to retain them in the deals were the upside of this trade actually gets interesting nothing’s ever this simple but here’s some food for thought Reeves’s inclusion puts Murray alongside DeAngelo Russell in the back

Court someone that’s brought consistent efficient offensive production over the last couple years during the regular season right now since coming back into the starting lineup he’s on fire but during the playoffs throughout his entire career he is consistently underperformed just last season when they went to the Western Conference

Finals he posted the lowest def defensive rating on the team while completely collapsing down the stretch offensively he had a solid round one an okay round two but by the end of the Western Conference Finals he was out of the starting lineup a series in which he averaged only six points shooting 32%

From the field and 133% from three then think about the other option dejonte Murray alongside Austin Reeves someone while never notable held up better defensively than Russell someone who seems to rise to the occasion as his numbers only improved deeper into the playoffs during that same series dowlo

Collapsed Reeves was averaging 21 and5 shooting 55% from the field in three not just that he shot over 50% from the field in three in every single game of that series Murray in his place likely changes nothing about that Series in place of D’Angelo Russell it would have

At least been a lot more interesting it’s hard to say what you can really expect from Murray with this group in the playoffs he’s had very little playoff experience but what we do know is that last season in the hawk first round Series against Boston he increased his production he averaged 23 points

Seven assists and seven boards shooting 38% from Beyond The Arc at least an okay indicator that in a playoff setting Murray would be a substantial upgrade to Russell offensively but where this trade really gets interesting where the upside really rests is defensively what’s been at the root of so much of the constant

Change in the Lakers back court this season right now the value being pegged to Murray almost entirely centers around his offensive production a stark contrast to not even two years ago when the Hawks gave up three first round picks to bring him in he was viewed as one of the League’s Elite perimeter

Defenders and already had an all defensive team honor to his name Flash Forward it today and yes Deonte Murray hasn’t come close to the defensive production we all expected but it’s a little too quick to be suggesting things like dejonte Murray was actually never the defender we made him out to be

Especially without recognizing his situation he came in with this wild expectation of making up for all of Trey Young’s vast defensive in abilities an expectation that was ridiculous just as much time was going to be spent hiding Trey young with or without Murray this team has also collectively gone the

Direction of this high-paced offense over anything a play style rarely conducive to taking advantage or really even getting the value out of top in defensive Talent this isn’t to say that Murray’s defense has been great not at all but it is to say it very well could be especially in an environment where

He’s able to focus on his strengths rather than others weakness it’s it’s pretty easy to Envision a world where everyone’s kicking themselves after seeing what he could do with the likes of Anthony Davis and Jared vandero behind him arguably the best offensive front Court in the league after last

Year’s deadline this is a move that solves so many of the Lakers struggles while simultaneously adding a ceiling that’s really hard to quantify those constant lineup changes would subside offensive consistency would be added defense would be added versatility would be added now this is an NBA 2K nothing

In the league is super simple or easy to predict you can’t just take the difference in produ uction between dejon and DLo and slap that onto their current output that’s just not how things work there’s risk here this could go very bad they could give up a lot of their future

Then continue to see Murray fall short of expectations defensively struggle beyond the perimeter it’s tough to assume his 39% is a guarantee given the long track record of that being a major weakness of his but right now LeBron is 39 years old in the last year of his

Contract this Championship window in La is fading quickly and who knows when it’s going to be back around again we didn’t expect the Lakers to have to make this kind of decision or risk at the deadline but here we are it right now it feels like a risk well worth taking

The Los Angeles Lakers Are Doing This Again..