The Los Angeles Lakers have been scouring the market all season long to identify the right players to add to their roster.
The Lakers are in a good position to make a trade, with an available future pick and a lot of mid-range tradeable contracts on young players. But their next trade could be the last major one in the LeBron James era, so they’ll be careful about picking who they’ll target.
The Lakers have seen many great players slip through the fingers and become contributors around the NBA, but the biggest loss has to have been Kyle Kuzma.
After playing an integral role in the 2020 Lakers title win, Kuzma was scapegoated for the failed 2020-21 season and traded to the Washington Wizards for Russell Westbrook. He’s balled out in Washington since, but the team has been among the worst in the NBA.
With the Wizards reportedly listening to offers for Kuzma, the Lakers have to bring back a player they know fits well next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Washington Wizards Receive: D’Angelo Russell, Taurean Prince, 2029 First-Round Pick (LAL)
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Kyle Kuzma
The Lakers made the Westbrook trade without giving up a first to Washington, but they’ll have to part with one if they want Kuzma’s two-way play and hustle back on their roster.
The Wizards Completely Bottom Out
The Wizards were widely assumed to be the worst team in the NBA heading into the season, a status that they have somehow overachieved because the Pistons and Spurs have been dreadful.
Their Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma duo has already been a colossal failure, with Kuzma miscast as the team’s No. 1 option. He has shown he can be a nightly 20-10 threat in this role, but his skill set will shine next to stars who know how to set him up.
Other teams could outbid the Lakers, but the pieces that the Lakers will offer could lead to further trades that help the Wizards maximize their trade return.
Taurean Prince is averaging 10.1 points and 2.8 rebounds as a starter this season, but would be a piece the Wizards should ask for whether it’s to be a mentor to Bilal Coulibaly or to trade him away for additional picks and assets.
D’Angelo Russell will be the important salary-matching piece who is averaging 14.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 6.1 assists.
His short-term contract would be better for the Wizards, who could spend the season helping him find his trade value and trade him in the summer. Jalen Hood-Schifino has a high ceiling and could find Washington to be his long-term home, with the futures of guards like Poole and Tyus Jones unclear.
The Lakers Add A Do-It-All Wing They’re Familiar With
After the failed Russell Westbrook trade, the Lakers have been careful in targeting players to add to the roster.
They’ve tried bringing complementary pieces at every step of the way, and a trade for Kuzma does exactly that. Kuzma was on the title-winning Lakers 2020 squad as a starter with an incredibly high motor, willing to do the dirty work to make the team a contender.
Kuzma is averaging 23.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists this season, developing his game over the last two-and-a-half seasons. He is way more confident as a scorer compared to his last season on the Lakers, becoming a three-level scorer with a very reliable jumper.
His defense has been lackluster on a losing Wizards roster, but he continues to show flashes of elite defense across positions. He’s a Swiss Army Knife for your frontline, something the Lakers desperately need with the one-way play of Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura.
Kuzma would slot in as a starter next to James in the frontcourt or allow James to return to being a full-time point guard with Austin Reaves and one of Hachimura or Vanderbilt on the floor with Kuzma and Anthony Davis.
This would increase their defensive ceiling while adding another scoring option, something that the Lakers’ existing trade targets don’t bring.
Would This Be The Right Move For LA?
The Lakers have been targeting mostly guards throughout this season, with their leading targets currently being Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray. But the Lakers can still find a way to make James the team’s primary playmaker, as he was in 2020, and add more front-court depth to the roster.
The Lakers can sign backup guards like Jaylen Nowell to provide scoring and secondary ball-handling while allowing James to be the primary playmaker and share ball-handling responsibilities with Reaves.
This also gives the Lakers more optionality, as Kuzma can play across the frontline, including small-ball five in specific lineups. It’s unlikely the Lakers use him like that, but he can be a fantastic role player on the court when both AD and LeBron are playing while using more freedom with bench lineups to keep the Lakers a threat even in minutes without their starters.
The Lakers are 17-17 and the 10th seed in the West, so a deal like this would definitely enable them to start moving up the standings.
