The Los Angeles Lakers are in need of an infusion of talent, youth and energy, and they don’t have a lot of assets to use.
Russell Westbrook looks to be their best bet on the open market to find one or two players who can address their weaknesses. Although it has been rumored that there will be at least a little interest in him, pulling off a trade involving him will be difficult because of his age, contract and flaws.
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Other than Westbrook, the Lakers seem to have scant options.
But they actually may have enough.
Another potential trade chip is third-year guard Talen Horton-Tucker. He was given a contract extension last summer, and big things were expected of him this season.
But for whatever reason, he didn’t improve. Some feel it was because Westbrook and LeBron James forced him to play almost exclusively off the ball when he is mostly a player who needs the ball to be effective.
Luckily, at least a couple of people around the NBA still believe in Horton-Tucker and agree he has value.
Via Heavy.com:
“‘I think, with Talen, obviously he did not get to where everyone wanted him to be that quickly,’ one Western Conference coach told Heavy.com. ‘But he is 21 years old. He is playing for the Lakers and development is not the biggest thing there. Every season he has been in the league, there has been COVID and the bubble and something that has gotten in the way of him making steps. But I think most of us would take him on our team in a minute. He is big (6-foot-4) and long, he can handle the ball, he can initiate the offense, he will be a good defender even if he is not there yet. He has value.’
“An Eastern Conference executive agreed. ‘He was young when he came into the league, he’s still young now,’ the exec said. ‘He is still raw in a lot of ways, inconsistent. But he steps up a lot when he gets the chance.’”
Some have rumored that the Lakers will attempt to package Horton-Tucker with guard Kendrick Nunn in order to bring back a player who will help them right away.
Nunn didn’t play at all this regular season because of a bone bruise in his knee, but he was a good player the prior two seasons with the Miami Heat. Assuming he makes a full recovery and is the same player he was then, he could have real value as well.
According to the Eastern Conference executive Heavy.com interviewed, the Lakers could actually get a very good player for a package of Horton-Tucker and Nunn.
The team needs two-way wings in the worst way, and he mentioned three young and very productive wings that the Lakers could trade for with such a package.
Via Lakers Daily:
“Sean Deveney of Heavy.com looked at potential offseason trades and focused on the Lakers’ problems pertaining to trade capital, with Nunn and Horton-Tucker possible considerations to be dealt.
“‘Who could the Lakers target with the pair?’ Deveney asked. ‘It might be tough to get anything done without giving up a future first-rounder, and the Lakers are short in that respect—they can’t trade a pick until 2027, and are reluctant to give up picks that far out. But it won’t be impossible. The exec threw out, hypothetically, Duncan Robinson of the [Miami] Heat, Malik Beasley of the [Minnesota] Timberwolves and Christian Wood of the [Houston] Rockets.’”
The one issue with such a trade, other than giving up a first-round draft pick that could turn out to be very high, is that L.A. would be giving up the only ball-handling guards it currently has on the roster other than Westbrook.
In such a scenario, the Lakers must then use Westbrook to bring back a very viable ball-handling guard who can score and set the table for others in order to reduce James’ workload.
James had a phenomenal individual season this year, but he will turn 38 in late December, and his regular season workload must be reduced in order to keep him fresh for the playoffs and reduce his risk of injury.