The Los Angeles Lakers are desperate to make some changes to their roster. The team has struggled to find any consistency throughout the 2021-22 NBA season on the court, as they currently have a record of 21-21.
Playing without Anthony Davis certainly doesn’t help, neither does the shooting funk that Russell Westbrook is stuck in. Right now, the only players the team can count on for any consistent production are LeBron James and Malik Monk.
That certainly isn’t a championship formula, as the Lakers do not have the look of a team that will contend for a title this season. Acquiring Westbrook was an all-in move, as Los Angeles pushed all of their chips to the middle of the table and hoped he would be enough to get them over the hump.
That, unfortunately, has not been the case. The team is now left with very few avenues to upgrade the roster, but they are exploring every possible way. Rob Pelinka is aggressively looking for trades to upgrade the roster, but you need two to tango and the Lakers are struggling to find a team interested in making a deal with them.
The Lakers have little trade flexibility, but that hasn’t stopped Los Angeles from exploring various potential deals. Rob Pelinka’s front office has only Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn as non-minimum players with tangible trade value, and that combination won’t be nearly enough to land Grant or Turner. But the Lakers have called rival teams to assess the trade value of DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore, sources said.
If the Lakers were able to convince the Detroit Pistons to part ways with Jerami Grant or the Indiana Pacers to trade Myles Turner, Pelinka deserves an award. Those are two of the more popular trade targets this season and there are plenty of teams that can top an offer of Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn, especially if Los Angeles is hesitant to include a future first-round pick.
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Out of the three Los Angeles Lakers veterans mentioned that they are assessing the trade value of, Dwight Howard is likely the only one that would bring back anything of value. Howard remains productive when called upon as a good rim protector and excellent rebounder.
Kent Bazemore played very well last season, so a team could be willing to take a shot on him. However, there is likely very little interest in DeAndre Jordan.
Jordan found himself out of the rotation last season with the Brooklyn Nets because he was an ineffective player. The Lakers started him 18 times and played him in 28 games, before realizing the same thing that the Nets did.
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Unless there is a team out there that wants to acquire Westbrook, it is hard to imagine Los Angeles being able to fill out and upgrade their roster. The Los Angeles Lakers will aim as high as they can, but likely won’t be able to land a player that can help them turn their fortunes around this season.
