Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge or DeMarcus Cousins: Which Big Can Lakers Acquire?
For only the second time in franchise history, the Los Angeles Lakers are looking to snap a two-year playoff drought.
One scan through the NBA rumor mill suggests the Lakers could soon burst out of their funk in a big way. Literally.
Various reports have linked the Purple and Gold with some of the league's premier post players. But which one is most likely to wind up in the City of Angels? That's the question we're here to answer, but the discussion has to start with which top-notch talents are in the franchise's sights.
Big Names and Bigger Numbers
The Lakers have reportedly discussed a deal with the Sacramento Kings for All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, league sources told Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. The Kings publicly denied interest in trading the 24-year-old to USA Today, "but that stance has increasingly softened and the franchise is proceeding further on moving him."
Kevin Love opted out of the final year of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, and the Lakers quickly emerged as a suitor, sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein. L.A. is also reportedly climbing the ladder of preferred destinations for All-Star free-agent forward LaMarcus Aldridge, via Stein:
That's an absurd amount of talent all linked to the same team. It's probably not a coincidence, either. Any competent sports agent should link their client to the Lakers.
The organization has a rich history, a giant media market and a boatload of cap space (only $35 million committed to next season's payroll). Simply positioning the Lakers as a potential poacher gives those players leverage. And there's nothing better to have at the negotiating table.
That being said, L.A. looks like a realistic landing spot for all three players.
Love is a Southern California native and played his college ball at UCLA. Aldridge lives near L.A. during the offseason, according to ESPN.com's Chris Broussard. As for Cousins, the Lakers might have "the best offer the Kings can get" in a trade if they include a combination of the No. 2 pick in Thursday's draft, Julius Randle and/or Jordan Clarkson, a source told Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
If the Lakers had equal odds of obtaining the three stars, Cousins looks the most appealing on paper. At 24 years old, he's the youngest of the group. (Love turns 27 in September; Aldridge will be 30 in July.) Cousins also has three years left on an incredibly reasonable contract ($50.8 million).
As of this past season, Cousins was also the most productive of the three. Although, the stat sheet says the Lakers would be thrilled to land any one of them.
| Aldridge | 23.4 | 46.6 | 10.2 | 108 | 22.8 |
| Cousins | 24.1 | 46.7 | 12.7 | 104 | 25.2 |
| Love | 16.4 | 43.4 | 9.7 | 115 | 18.8 |
Love, remember, spent this past season struggling to find his place as the third option behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland. As the Minnesota Timberwolves' top option in 2013-14, Love ranked fourth overall in scoring (26.1 points per game), third in rebounding (12.5) and third in player efficiency rating (26.9).
The talent gap between these bigs is even smaller than it seems. But the likelihood of each player landing in L.A. isn't nearly as close.
There Can Only Be One
Even though Cousins appears to be the most coveted target, he's also the hardest to get.
Adding him would require major subtractions in other areas. Considering the Lakers are coming off of their worst season in franchise history (21-61), they don't have nearly enough depth to cover the holes this trade would create.
Furthermore, the Kings might not even be buying what the Lakers have to sell. L.A. has future assets, but Sacramento wants win-now assistance. Head coach George Karl is chasing Don Nelson's career wins record, and the team is planning to move into its new arena for the 2016-17 season. The Lakers can only offer potential, but the Kings want "established, veteran players," according to Wojnarowski.
That doesn't mean Cousins should be crossed off the list, but he seems the least likely to land in L.A.
The Aldridge-Love debate is tough.
Aldridge looks like the bigger flight risk. In fact, one Western Conference executive told the Columbian's Erik Gundersen that Aldridge "has already informed the Blazers he will not return."
Aldridge—the NBA's only player to average at least 21 points and eight rebounds in each of the past five seasons—reportedly feels undervalued in Portland. "The rumbles out there...that Aldridge is said to feel somewhat underappreciated in Rip City because of the ever-growing focus inside and outside the organization on backcourt darling Damian Lillard," Stein wrote.
There are basketball reasons for Aldridge to consider a change of locale, too. He has spent nine seasons in Portland and advanced past the first round of the playoffs once. The Blazers also just cut ties with his longtime running mate Nicolas Batum, who was officially traded to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday for Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh.
More changes could be on the horizon with Wesley Matthews, Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo set to join Aldridge in free agency.
But if Aldridge makes a basketball move, it won't lead him to Hollywood. He doesn't have time to wait for the young Lakers to develop, and the Texas native would have a much better chance of winning sooner rather than later by joining the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets or Dallas Mavericks.
If the Lakers leave this summer with a top-shelf frontcourt talent, Love looks like their guy.
Going Back to Cali?
To understand Love's situation, you first have to realize that opting opt was the best business move he could make. It doesn't mean he's guaranteed to leave Cleveland, but rather that he's looking to collect all the money he can get. (As he should be.)
Love had a player option for $16.7 million. If he signs a one-year deal now, he could bump that figure to $18.9 million. That would also allow him to re-enter the market next summer when the salary cap is set to burst like the cork in a champagne bottle.
Love has repeatedly said he plans to stay with the Cavs. When asked specifically if he wanted to return earlier this month, he said, "Yes. I want to win," via ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne.
Maybe that's truly how he feels. But he's held that stance all along, and people remain skeptical. "Of all of the high-profile free agents this summer, executives still believe Love and LaMarcus Aldridge are the likeliest to be willing to change teams," ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst wrote.
The Cavs never found the right way to use Love. Everyone knew he would lose some volume stats by virtue of moving down the offensive pecking order, but few could have foreseen his efficiency also dipping. He had limited help in Minnesota, but he still posted better shooting numbers than this season's 43.4 field-goal and 36.7 three-point percentages.
The Lakers shouldn't picture Love as their new alpha dog, because he played that role for the Timberwolves, and it never translated to winning. But as one executive told Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick, Love could be a sensational second option:
"Kevin has been miscast in Cleveland, and I'm not sure it's really anyone's fault. He's too good, in too many ways, to be a third option, and he's not emotionally equipped for it either. He's not a first option on a championship team. He may not be one on a playoff team. He proved that in Minnesota. But, as a second option somewhere, he'd probably be perfect.
"
Some might be asking, a second option to whom? Well, Kobe Bryant still has (at least) one season left with the Lakers. And the future Hall of Famer plays second fiddle to no one.
Once Bryant's $25 million salary comes off the books, the Lakers can go big-game hunting again. If they strike out in 2016 free agency, they might find their answer the following year in perennial All-Star Russell Westbrook, Love's teammate at UCLA.
The Westbrook return is a pipe dream for a different day, but the scenario shows another reason to pursue Love. He might be the best recruiter of L.A.'s three notable targets—younger than Aldridge, less prickly than Cousins.
The Lakers still need Love's help to pull this off. He has to believe in their vision for the future, because there's not much to sell in the present.
But Love might be intrigued by the idea of making a ton of money in a major market. And he could see some attractive potential in the Lakers developing their young talent and bringing more on board during future free-agency ventures.
Getting Love to the Lakers is a long shot. But every fortune-reversing move starts with a big dream.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com. Salary information obtained via Basketball Insiders.
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