Lakers Trade Targets with 2024 Trade Deadline 2 Months Away
The Los Angeles Lakers have authored a solid start to the 2023-24 NBA season.
Of course, when you're evaluated on the championship-or-bust scale—as all LeBron James-led teams are—you need to be more than solid.
If the Lakers hope to make the jump from pretty good to great, they probably need an external lift. The trade market could potentially provide it, and the following three players should all have this front office's attention between now and the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
Alex Caruso, Chicago Bulls
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If the Lakers could choose one move to make this trade season, there's a non-zero chance they'd wind up picking a reunion with Alex Caruso.
They prefer Caruso (and DeMar DeRozan) to Zach LaVine, per The Athletic's Jovan Buha, who wrote that Caruso "fills a clear need as an elite backcourt defender" and "has already proven he can thrive alongside (LeBron) James and (Anthony) Davis."
The Lakers could absolutely use a lockdown perimeter stopper, and Caruso clearly fits the bill. He was an All-Defensive first-teamer last season, and this season he's residing in the 95th percentile for estimated defensive plus/minus, per Dunks & Threes.
Caruso, who spent his first four NBA seasons with the Lakers (including the championship banner-raising 2019-20 campaign), can contribute in myriad ways offensively, too. He could be a fit on or off the basketball, and he previously showed tremendous chemistry with James as a spot-up shooter and savvy off-ball cutter.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Brooklyn Nets
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If L.A. does anything this trade season, it will almost certainly do something to address their shooting shortage.
Remember last season when James lamented how his club wasn't "sitting here with a lot of losers on our team?" Well, the Lakers are somehow even less threatening from long range this time around. Last season's group averaged 10.8 threes on 34.6 percent shooting; this season, those numbers have slipped to 9.9 and 33.5, respectively.
Shopping for shooting is a no-brainer, but L.A. should aim for more than a specialist. Dorian Finney-Smith could give this roster a knockdown shooter (career-high 45.4 percent from three this season) while also strengthening its defense.
The 6'7", 220-pound swingman quietly ranks among the Association's top three-and-D wings, and while that designation might normally make him off-limits, the Nets might be the only team that has enough wing depth to let a two-way contributor go.
Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls
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Zach LaVine may not sit atop the team's wish list, but it isn't hard to argue for him being the best basketball fit.
L.A.'s offense needs a lift in virtually every aspect. It obviously doesn't have enough shooting, but it needs more downhill drivers and above-the-rim finishers, too. Adding another secondary playmaker to the mix could provide an additional boost.
LaVine's bag is loaded with all of the above. This season has been a bit of a mess as he seemingly awaits his trade out of the Windy City, but over the previous three, he was a per-game supplier of 25.4 points, 4.5 assists and 2.9 three-pointers, plus a 48.9/39.4/85 shooter.
He wouldn't help this defense at all, but it might already be at a championship level. And if the deal that brought LaVine in also sent D'Angelo Russell out, it might be a lateral move on defense and a substantial upgrade on offense. LaVine's contract could create some long-term financial issues, but if any franchise can afford to be fully focused on the present, it's probably the one that has a 38-year-old leading its charge.
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