The Los Angeles Lakers drastically reshaped their roster leading up to the trade deadline by making four separate deals, and, suddenly, the immediate future looks a lot brighter.
They traded little-used guard Kendrick Nunn and three second-round draft picks for forward Rui Hachimura in late January. Then came a whopper of a trade earlier this month that sent out Russell Westbrook, the little-used Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones plus a lottery-protected 2027 first-round pick and brought in D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley.
For good measure, the next day the Lakers swapped Patrick Beverley for 3-and-D center Mo Bamba. When incumbent backup 5 Thomas Bryant wanted out, he was shipped off for multiple second-round draft picks.
Suddenly, a team with little frontcourt depth, defense and 3-point shooting became relatively flush in all three categories. The early returns have been good. L.A. has won four of the five games since the newcomers started debuting.
But it will have decisions to make this summer. Hachimura will be a restricted free agent and Russell an unrestricted free agent.
According to one rival executive, it looks as if the Lakers are intent on keeping as many of their newcomers as possible.
Via Heavy Sports:
“They would never have given up that pick unless they planned to make some long-term investments,” one GM told Heavy Sports. “They were willing to trade it, but they needed some guys just heading into their primes to convince them to give it up. Now they’ve got (D’Angelo) Russell, they’ve got (Jarred) Vanderbilt, they’ve got Malik Beasley, plus (Rui) Hachimura, Austin Reaves. We’ll see what they do with Mo Bamba, too.
“That’s a base of young players that they did not have before, you know, guys who are mid-20s (in age). They’re going to keep those guys in place. They’re all in on paying those guys.”
There were rumors that L.A. was aiming on clearing a maximum salary slot this summer, but that may no longer be the case.
The Lakers finally have a team that looks like it’s capable of winning not just right now but for years to come. Unless there is a drastic drop-off from someone such as Russell or Beasley, it would be worthwhile for the organization to invest in keeping as many of their new players as possible.
