Trade Targets for Lakers to Avoid at 2024 Deadline
A productive NBA trade deadline could potentially position the Los Angeles Lakers for another lengthy playoff run.
However, a disastrous deadline could possibly set back this franchise for years to come.
While front offices must run risk-reward analyses on any potential trade target, there's no need for the Purple and Gold to explore the following three players. For factors we'll dig into, the Lakers are best to stay away from this trio.
Buddy Hield, Indiana Pacers
1 of 3
At the start of last season already, LeBron James was lamenting the Lakers' lack of three-point "lasers." A season-and-a-half later, this team remains so woefully short on shooting that their offensive end often feels claustrophobic.
So, why shouldn't they try making a run at Buddy Hield? He is, after all, one of the most proficient perimeter marksmen in the league.
Well, the issue is that's all he provides, and one-dimensional players can be easily exploited come playoff time. He'd be helpful to have on the receiving end of passes from James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, sure, but that's the full extent of Hield's utility.
The Lakers have too many one-way players as it is, and their 14th-ranked defense, per NBA.com, can't afford to take on another liability. L.A.'s best bet for even approaching elite status is scaling the ladder on the game's less glamorous end, and adding Hield might cause them to tumble down the list even further.
DeMar DeRozan, Chicago Bulls
2 of 3
The Lakers clearly have issues on the offensive end, where they rank just 21st in efficiency. Among their problems is a lack of reliable scorers and shot-creators around the James-Davis duo.
DeMar DeRozan could scratch both of those itches. This hasn't been a banner season by his standards, but if you plopped his per-game averages of 21.9 points and 5.3 assists onto the Purple and Gold, he'd rank third in both categories.
Where a DeRozan deal would go awry, though, would be his preferred style of play. He operates almost exclusively inside the arc—this is only the second time in his career he's averaged even one triple per outing—meaning one of the Association's worst shooting teams would be even further squeezed for spacing.
Plus, the Lakers aren't positioned to take advantage of what he has to offer. Since he's not a catch-and-shoot threat, he's someone who works best with the ball in his hands. L.A. clearly wouldn't take touches away from James and Davis to accommodate DeRozan, and it may not have much incentive to limit Reaves' on-ball opportunities.
Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls
3 of 3
If you could separate the worries of a Zach LaVine deal from his strengths, it'd be obvious to see how much he could conceivably help this club.
Everything the Lakers need on offense—reliable scoring, knock-down shooting, secondary creation, downhill attacking—LaVine has in his bag. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, he's been a nightly source of 24.7 points, 4.4 assists and 2.7 three-pointers, not to mention a 47.5/38.5/83.8 shooter. Those are, more or less, the numbers of the ideal third option in this offense.
Yet, the Lakers wouldn't simply be getting LaVine's offensive production. They'd also absorb his lengthy injury history and lack of winning (one playoff trip in nine-plus seasons). Their financial books would be buried underneath his colossal contract, which pays him $40.1 million for this season and will send another $138 million his way over the next three, per Spotrac.
Tack on his struggles at the defensive end, and there are just way too many red flags for this front office to ignore. Luckily, the Lakers have seemingly recognized as much and are not considering a LaVine trade, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
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