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In a matter of days, the Los Angeles Lakers have completely revamped their roster and given themselves a much brighter future for years to come. It's one of (if not the) most impressive trade deadlines in NBA history. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, they aren't done.
Upon trading Anthony Davis, Max Christie a first- and a second-round pick for Luka Doncic, the Lakers quickly reevaluated their short and long-term goals. It's clear, through their actions, that the Lakers organization is a lot more confident about what Doncic and LeBron James can do together than they were about James and Anthony Davis.
As reported Wednesday, the Lakers did not want to mess with their core rotation in their search for a center. Initially, they set out to trade Maxi Kleber and draft capital to find the big they desperately needed, but found his market as productive as they hoped. Rob Pelinka made calls to any team with any young, athletic center (including the Detroit Pistons for Jalen Duren, according to my colleague, Brett Siegel) and eventually found a trade partner in the Charlotte Hornets.
Mark Williams trade a worthwhile gamble for Lakers
The Lakers had hoped to hold onto their 2031 first to move with expiring salaries this summer and into next season, but considered Williams a worthy gamble. If he can stay healthy, the Lakers consider themselves real contenders this season and he's young enough to help keep them there moving forward.
With mere hours to go before the deadline, the Lakers understand there is still more work to be done.
“Rob is still very active,” one source close to the team said Wednesday and reiterated Thursday morning. “He opened that roster spot for a reason.”
Because the Lakers sit above the first apron but below the second, they can add a player via buyout, so long as he makes $12.8 million or less. Per sources, they'd like to open a second roster spot to convert Christian Koloko and make him playoff eligible at some point this season, on top of whichever player they pursue after the trade deadline via free agency.
Perhaps the Lakers could dip under the first apron to open themselves to any player bought out, but that would take a ton of work and it doesn't seem likely they have enough draft capital to get there. It's also worth mentioning that players might be reluctant to take buyouts, as it would deem them veteran minimum players until they prove otherwise.
Given how difficult it was to come by any money last summer for free agents, many around the league believe players might be advised to play things extremely safe and stay put unless they can find the absolutely perfect situation to earn anything more than the minimum this summer.
As Kleber is unlikely to help the Lakers this season, his contract is being dangled with their remaining draft capital to hopefully land a perimeter defender at the shooting guard spot. Kleber cannot be aggregated in trades, so the player the Lakers land using his contract would have to make as much or less than his $11 million this season.
No matter the avenue they take, the Lakers definitely considered likely to make another couple moves to round out this roster and pursue a championship this year. Seeing as Doncic can be a free agent as soon as after next season, the Lakers are putting their best foot forward to convince him to stick around a while longer.
