Lakers: ESPN Experts Debate Whether L.A. Should Trade Future First-Round Picks To Improve This Season
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How Zach Lowe and Kevin Pelton feel about the Lakers’ recent positive uptick.
Your Los Angeles Lakers seem to be on the come-up, having won three straight games behind the beastly play of center Anthony Davis. AD has opted to eschew taking too many jumpers beyond the painted area, probably a good call given that he remains ice-cold away from the basket, and has taken to beating up the opposition inside. Davis is shooting a career-best 55.4% on his 17.8 field goal attempts per game, averaging 25.6 points, 12 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.4 assists for the still-bad 5-10 Lakers.
If Davis continues on this track, and the return of LeBron James from that left adductor strain (now possible, at the earliest, this Friday on the road against the San Antonio Spurs, two weeks after he first incurred the injury) happens soon, could L.A. actually be decent this season?
This writer is fairly skeptical, given the ease of schedule across the last week (L.A. beat three clubs sporting sub-.500 records). The Lakers still need more three-point shooting and more perimeter defense, and James seems to have taken a significant step back as a scorer and defender this season.
But that’s just me. The Lakers’ front office brain trust, led by Rob Pelinka but also apparently somewhat controlled by the remaining Buss kids with decision-making roles in the franchise (Jeanie, Joey and Jesse), plus Jeanie’s various advisors, may appraise their team a bit more optimistically. Would the club still be amenable to flipping the $47.1 million contract of Russell Westbrook, who has looked way better since being moved to a bench role (though he’s still being paid maybe four times what he would fetch as a free agent right now) and up to two first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2029 for role-player help around Davis and James?
That remains to be seen.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Kevin Pelton discussed this very issue during a must-win episode of Lowe’s podcast The Lowe Post. Los Angeles has a pretty important road trip coming up, where it will face off against the Suns tonight (a probable loss), and the Spurs twice (probable wins). The Lakers will then head home to play the 9-6 Indiana Pacers, who had seemingly expected to tank heading into the season, but instead have thrived behind the play of young guards Tyrese Halliburton and Bennedict Mathurin. Should L.A. win at least three of these next four games, could the club be convinced to make a drastic “win-now” move?
“If they can sweep these [next four] games [and get to a record of] 9-10, I do think the conversation about the picks will change course a little bit,” Lowe opined. “There will be some pressure from various directions to say, ‘See? We’re coming back to life, nobody’s running away with it in the West. If we can get [Pacers veterans] Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, maybe we should do it.’ They still are so far away to me.”
“I still haven’t changed off the position when we talked last April about them,” Pelton responded. “That was when I said that the first rule of being in a hole is quit digging. Which is why I wouldn’t trade the ’27 and ’29 picks… If it’s changed, it’s only a little.”
“I wouldn’t go crazy if they are 8-11 or 9-10 considering what their schedule’s gonna flip to after that stretch,” Lowe said diplomatically.
Beyond the hypothetical Pacers trade, the Lakers have been rumored to be interested in trade packages from the Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets, and Spurs.