The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off winning their 17th NBA Championship in franchise history, tying their rivals, the Boston Celtics, for most championships by any franchise in NBA history. GM Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office though were not satisfied with just one championship though and got to work this past offseason, adding plenty of talent around LeBron James and Anthony Davis to make the Lakers a championship contender for the next several years.

Two of the Lakers’ biggest acquisitions this past offseason were Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell, the reigning Sixth-Man of the Year. Schroder was traded from OKC to Los Angeles before the 2020 NBA Draft this offseason and not only can he be the Lakers’ third scoring option, but he will take a lot of pressure off of LeBron James this year.

Both Schorder and Harrell have been fantastic so far this year for the Lakers and have taken an enormous amount of pressure off of both LeBron James and Anthony Davis. In fact, due to the Lakers depth this year, LeBron James is only on the court for about 32.2 minutes per game, the lowest of his career.

Keeping James fresh and healthy is the main goal of the Lakers and by acquiring Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell in the offseason, they were able to set themselves up for success when James is not on the court. Not only has this helped them win games now, but will help them in their pursuit for back-to-back titles. 

Los Angeles has been a fantastic defensive team early on in the year, only surrendering 105.1 points on average to opponents, ranking them 3rd in the league in the least amount of points given up per game. They could however gain another great defender and be an even better defensive team.

Let’s take a look at a potential trade between the L.A. Lakers and the Houston Rockets that would send PJ Tucker to Los Angeles.