Don't look now, but the NBA trade deadline is less than three weeks away. Role players and stars alike will be swapping teams between now and then, but like any market, there are good investments, and those that will leave someone with buyer's remorse.
The Los Angeles Lakers already got in on the action by sending D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets in late December for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. The jury is still out on that move, but most people around the league expect LA to make another deal or two before February 6th arrives. I mean, come on, we're talking about the Lakers. They can't help but swing for the fences, right?
While it makes sense to make a push for another championship in the twilight of LeBron James' career, many pundits are understandably skeptical that there's anything the Lakers could do to become a real threat to the top teams in the league this year. They may be right, and the last thing Lakers fans want is to mortgage the long-term future in pursuit of a short-term long shot.
Even for more optimistic fans, there are still reasons to believe that re-entering the trade market just isn't the way to go for this Lakers team. In a world filled with doom and gloom, let's be optimists. Here are three reasons the Lakers don't need to make a trade.
1. Jarred Vanderbilt will be back soon
Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? The Lakers don't need to go out and get a player because Jarred Vanderbilt will be making his season debut any day now.
If trading for Finney-Smith was a way to improve LA's subpar defense, getting Vanderbilt back to join forces with the former Net should supercharge that effort. The forward has been out of commission all year after undergoing multiple foot surgeries in the offseason, but head coach JJ Redick said earlier this week that his return is imminent. Many trade rumors surrounding the Lakers have pegged them for chasing another defensive-minded player, but there's no need for that now.
Finney-Smith is a very good defender. Anthony Davis is a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate (even if he is salty that he has never won it). That's still not enough to make the Lakers even a league-average defense, though, not as long as LeBron and Austin Reaves are cosplaying as traffic cones out there. The addition of a fully healthy Vando? That might do the trick.
2. Dalton Knecht can be a difference-maker if the Lakers would only let him
What's a better scenario — giving up players and draft picks to go out and get a player? Or finding out that the player you needed was right there all along? Call me crazy, but I'll take the latter, especially when there's no way to tell how a new piece would affect team chemistry.
Dalton Knecht has shown flashes that he can be a meaningful rotation player, even as a rookie. His stretch in late November when he stepped into the starting lineup and went nuclear for about two weeks was basically a truncated white boy version of Linsanity.
Knecht was a phenomenal scorer in college, and though that doesn't always translate into NBA success, he's shown that he can do it on this level, too. What he really needs is a chance to play consistent minutes each night, and right now he's not getting that.
Knecht is barely averaging more than 15 minutes per game so far in January. If that continues, it would be his least-played month of the season. It's bit of a "chicken or the egg" thing as to whether Knecht isn't shooting well because he doesn't have enough minutes or he isn't getting minutes because he isn't shooting well enough. Regardless, the Lakers invested a first-round pick in him for a reason, and he's shown that he has it in him.
Rather than trade for a player that would relegate Knecht to an even worse seat on the bench, why not give him a chance to contribute?
3. Any star the Lakers could acquire at the deadline has baggage, an albatross of a contract, or both
Our first two points talked about how the Lakers have two in-house options to help them down the stretch, but the other reason they shouldn't make another deal is that there are huge red flags attached to most of the big names that could be available.
Jimmy Butler is trying to force his way out of Miami, making him a perfect 4/4 in leaving teams on bad terms. The Lakers don't need that kind of problem, and they also don't need to be giving a two-year extension to a declining player, which is why he wants out of Miami in the first place after the Heat refused his demands.
How about Zach LaVine, who's put together a sneaky great season on another mediocre Bulls team? LaVine has been undeniably good, but he's owed another $95 million over the next two years, and with his injury history, he's also the player at this deadline who's most likely to break right after he comes off the lot.
The Pelicans would love to trade Brandon Ingram, and the Lakers have already been on that train before. A second trip around the tracks didn't work with D'Angelo Russell, why would it with Ingram?
Trading for Ingram's teammate Zion Williamson would be one of the riskiest moves in NBA history. Zion could be a superstar, but he can't stay healthy because he can't stay in shape. He also was suspended shortly after returning to action for being late for a team flight. He's clearly a guy that just doesn't get what being a pro is all about.
The truth is, trading for any of these players would be a massive risk that the Lakers shouldn't be willing to take.
