The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly been one of the more active teams in the midst of trade season, and in the weeks leading up to the NBA trade deadline. They’ve already made one trade, acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton for D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and draft compensation. But while that move certainly helped upgrade the Lakers’ roster, they still aren’t there yet in terms of being a legitimate contending team.
Finney-Smith helps in a lot of ways, in that he is interchangeable position-wise, which is suited to the type of play style head coach JJ Redick wants to play. He can play either forward position, and even some small-ball center. Now he shouldn’t be playing center regularly, but it’s an option.
When the Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship, a big part of that was having interchangeable, defensive-minded wings and guards such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green and Alex Caruso. Ever since the departure of those three players, the Lakers have not been able to replicate that success and production from the wing. Finney-Smith, along with Max Christie, could be a return to that type of defensive pressure from the wing.
Another key tenet of that Lakers’ team was having serviceable big men in the rotation. Now that team’s style of play, and Redick’s preferred style of play, are different. But the Lakers need reliable depth around Anthony Davis. Either alongside him in the starting lineup while moving LeBron James to small forward, or coming off the bench.
There’s reportedly good news on the horizon in terms of Jarred Vanderbilt’s availability, as per Jacob Rude of Silver Screen and Roll. He’s apparently making progress in terms of his rehab and is set to be re-evaluated in about one week. Vanderbilt was hampered by injury all of last season and has yet to make his 2024-25 debut.
The seven-year veteran is also an interchangeable defensive player capable of thriving in small-ball lineups, tailor made for Redick’s system. The only issue is Vanderbilt has been injury prone during his Lakers tenure with the exception of the end of the 2022-23 season and subsequent Lakers’ playoff run.
Vanderbilt is also not much of an offensive threat. He doesn’t have a consistent shot. The Denver Nuggets exposed his weaknesses during the 2023 Western Conference Finals. And now he’s coming off two major surgeries.
The Lakers still need to address their frontcourt by the NBA trade deadline. They’re near the bottom of the league in total rebounds, and were just eviscerated on the glass by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 31.
Lakers frontcourt needs help by NBA trade deadline
It’s easy to say that the Lakers just need to upgrade their frontcourt by the NBA trade deadline. You can’t just snap your fingers and make a trade appear out of thin air. While the Lakers have been linked to a few center targets, a completed trade requires a lot of things to come together.
With Redick’s inclination of playing non-traditional lineups, perhaps a starting center is the better option rather than giving up assets on a backup who may or may not play. Also, a true starting center would take some of the rebounding responsibilities off Anthony Davis, and give him more freedom on the defensive end. And the Lakers have had their woes on the glass this season.
The best possible candidate the Lakers could look to acquire is Charlotte Hornets big man Nick Richards. While Jonas Valanciunas has been the top name linked to the Lakers via trade, it appears as if that window is closing as the Washington Wizards’ asking price might be too much, as per Michael Wright of ESPN.
Utah Jazz big man Walker Kessler is also probably out of the picture as well. Chicago Bulls’ big man Nikola Vucevic isn’t the defensive fit to help take the pressure off Davis. Richards should be the main target.
A potential trade for Richards will likely cost at least two second round draft picks, as per Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.com. The Lakers have that available. While second round picks have increased in value in recent years, it’s worth parting with a couple to acquire a productive big man like Richards.
In 20 games this season, Richards has been averaging 9.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 blocked shots. He’s shooting 56.4 percent from the field 67.8 percent from the free-throw line.
The picks seem to be what the Hornets are more interested in acquiring rather than incoming salary/players. If that’s what it will take to make a trade for Richards ahead of the NBA trade deadline, the Lakers need to pull the trigger. Richards doesn’t need the ball in his hands to make an impact on the offensive end, he can hit the glass and he can be an additional defensive anchor to help take the pressure off Davis.
