The Lakers did not sit pat at the trade deadline sending Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. to the Cleveland Cavaliers in return for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and the Cavs first round protected pick in 2018. The Cavs got some good young players to help contend for the title this season.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are looking to the future and it would be a shock if Thomas and Frye were on the roster next season. While Cleveland may have gotten the better of the deal in terms of players producing right now the Lakers are simply looking to the horizon and it is brighter with the recent trade they pulled off.
It is no secret that the Lakers will go big-game hunting this off-season and the obvious name that is on the top of the list is LeBron James.
Interesting, as that is the case yet L.A. made the trade to make James’ current team better and that may backfire in the not-too-distant future, especially if Cleveland can with the title or doing well with the new squad convincing him to stay in the Midwest.
Still, other big names are available this summer with the likes of Paul George and DeAndre Jordan, to name a few, available. The dream scenario for the Lakers is if they can bring in James and George and while a reality it is far from a sure thing.
The Isaiah Thomas trade to L.A. does not bring the title to La La Land this season, obviously, but it does pave the way for a future where they can contend for a ring in the not too distant future.
Mission accomplished
When you look at the player movement the Cavaliers may have gotten the better of the deal, but the Lakers did exactly what they had to, which was to unload Jordan Clarkson’s contract. Basically, the Lakers are setting themselves up for an off-season they can at least offer two max contracts and maybe even three.
Clarkson averaged 14.5 ppg this season and has played well as a scoring spark-plug for the Lakers, but he is making north of $11 million per season for three more years and L.A. wanted out of that contract bad. They got their wish with the Cleveland deal and shedding Nance Jr. also freed up some loot.
The Lakers are in it for the future and that means freeing up more money to lure stars to come to Hollywood, which sounds strange. The Lakers did just that with the recent trade that gave them even more cash to entice the big guns to hole up in their town.
What now for the Lakers?
The Lakers will play out the season and may make a move to possibly even get in the playoffs. While L.A. is under .500 they have won four in a row and are 4.5 games out of the 8th playoff slot in the Western Conference. How will Thomas fit in on the Lakers and how much will he play?
That is a big question for the guy that seems to be the odd-man out in this trade. He was the centerpiece coming from Boston to Cleveland, but never seemed to work out for the Cavs and he has been traded twice in less than a year.
Thomas is looking for a big contract and the rest of the season is likely a tryout for other teams, as he will not resign with L.A. However, the Cavaliers would not have resigned him either, which is another reason the Lakers got such a solid deal in the trade.
The Lakers still have some young talent and will the team be able to keep them even with going all in for the next off-season bringing in some big guns? Even with Clarkson gone L.A. still has five players averaging in double figures this season.
Brandon Ingram leads the team averaging 15.9 ppg and rookie Kyle Kuzma has been more than legit ranking 2nd on the team with a 15.7 ppg clip and he is also averaging 5.8 rpg and is shooting over 45% from the field. Julius Randle is in the last season of his contract and so is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Lonzo Ball has not even been mentioned and he is a big factor in the Lakers’ future. He has been injured for the last few weeks and is slated to come back soon.
The 2nd pick in the last draft has been a bit of a disappointment so far, yet has shown flashes of brilliance. He is averaging 10.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg, and 7.1 assists per game, which are pretty good for a rook, but he is also only shooting 35.6% from the floor and 30.3% from 3-pt range. L.A. looked to build around Ball and while the jury is still out on him he presents a major conundrum for the squad.
LeBron James commands and controls the ball often and would his play help Ball become a better player or take the rock out of his hands? Can Ball mesh with two stars, no matter what their position, if the defense focuses on the big guns since Ball has not proved he can keep the D honest with his shot? Tough call on that one.
The Albatross
The Lakers have young talent with the likes of Kuzma, Ball, Randle, and Ingram and Caldwell-Pope and Brook Lopez, who are each making over $17 million, are likely gone out of Tinsel Town after this season. L.A. has two first round picks and the cash to offer big names the bank in the off-season. However, while they jettisoned Clarkson and his $11 per season they still have Luol Deng and his albatross contract.
Deng has three years left on a contract that pays him $37 million in the next two seasons and he is not even suiting up for L.A. this season with one game played. Last season he played in 56 games and averaged a less than stellar 7.6 ppg and 5.3 rpg and while that is not bad is it worth more than $17 million?
Teams are reluctant to take that bad contract on, but maybe throwing in a number-one draft pick, which the Lakers have two now after the Thomas trade, will sweeten the deal. If L.A. can get him off the books it will be a major accomplishment that can only help them build in the future.
Magic has some Magic to do
The Lakers are seen as the winners of the recent trade with Cleveland and Magic Johnson has gotten some praise for it. Still, he has work to do figuring out what young players to keep, hoping his first draft pick in Ball plays out well, and luring free agents to come to La La Land. The question still begs, which big names can the Lakers get to come out West? The last superstar to come to the Lakers was Dwight Howard and that move did not turn out well.
Johnson has his work cut out for him and he has to bring in some marquee names, as the Lakers, as it stands now, are a lower rung Western Conference team. The has young promise, but nowhere near the talent to vie for the title, much less the playoffs, which L.A. fans are clamoring for and have not gotten since Kobe and Gasol roamed the floor.
Question marks galore
The Lakers made a great trade at the deadline that does not help them in the immediate future but may help them down the road. Isaiah Thomas is the odd-man out in the deal auditioning for other teams for the rest of the season while the Lakers await the off-season. Contracts expire, young players emerge and free agents become available. All those things are inevitable for teams when they look to improve when the league champion is crowned.
It is pretty basic for the Lakers that they freed up cap space with the Thomas deal with the Cavs, but Johnson has to be his namesake and work some magic for the squad to be relevant again. Good young players are just that, good and young but, in the time of the super teams, you need to be super to vie for the NBA title.
The Lakers are set to make a big splash this off-season and ESPN has reported as while the team will do just that they are not adverse to waiting until the 2019 class of free agents become available with the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson and Jimmy Butler on the market. All in all, good job L.A. with the deal, with the Cavs and the future is looking pretty good. Still, in the time of the super team, Magic Johnson needs to field one sooner rather than later and that is far from easy.
With the Ball issue up in the air, Deng’s contract bogging them down some, and the young talent that tough decisions need to made Johnson may hark back to easier times when he was battling Bird and the original Isaiah Thomas back when parachute pants were cool. With the Thomas trade with Cleveland the future for the Lakers is brighter, but there are still many darker clouds that need to be addressed for THE team in SoCal.
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