Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are in “championship mode” as an organization, which means they are willing to make all the moves necessary to win a championship now and win as many championships as they can with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on their roster. Who knows when James is going to retire, but until he does, the Lakers will always be championship contenders.
As a result, L.A. will be looking for ways to improve their roster near the trade deadline, which is why Hassan Whiteside could be very much in play for them. They explored the possibility of signing him this past offseason, which is why it would make even more sense for them to trade for him now.
He has a small price tag and asking price, as does Glenn Robinson III, who would be included in this trade package for financial reasons mainly. Robinson III does not have much of a role in Sacramento this year, but could make a big impact off-the-bench for L.A.
Last season, Glen Robinson III played for the Warriors and 76ers and averaged 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and shot 39.1% from three-point range combined. He ability to space the floor and attack the paint off-the-dribble is what would make an impact player on the wing for the Lakers and somebody they would absolutely love to add for depth behind LeBron James and Co.
Hassan Whiteside on the other-hand would not be as much of a factor offensively as he would defensively. Sure, he will catch the occasional lob from LeBron for an easy dunk, but he could easily be one of the best shot-blockers in the league this season next to Anthony Davis.
With Anthony Davis dealing with complications with his Achilles, pursuing a shot blocker like Hassan Whiteside could help the Lakers maintain some of their defensive prowess if Anthony Davis were to be sat down to recover.
They would not ask Whiteside to play more than 20-minutes per game since they have Montrezl Harrell coming in off-the-bench, but in the time he is on the court for the Lakers, Whiteside would definitely help make this Lakers team even better defensively.
Last year, L.A. had a lot of depth at the center position and as a result, teams had a hard time scoring on them in the paint. This year, the Lakers are not as big in the paint outside of Anthony Davis, making it slightly easier for teams to score inside. Getting Whiteside denies pretty much any easy layup attempts and should make the Lakers even more dominant on the defensive-side of the things.
Trading Marc Gasol would not impact this team at all, but losing Talen Horton-Tucker could definitely hurt this team in the future. He is a great, young talent that could turn into something special, but if the Lakers are to go “all-in” on winning as many championships as possible now, then they may have to be willing to part with a player like him.
