Despite the highly-touted coaching change, the 13-11 Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in the play-in group after a quarter of the season.
A bottom-five defense and a middle-of-the-pack offense won’t cut it in the strong Western Conference.
With enough sample size to evaluate their current roster, the Lakers need a major shakeup if they truly want to shake out of the logjam in the deep Western Conference and make a deeper run in the postseason.
Bleacher Report’s salary cap expert Eric Pincus proposed a three-team trade to address the Lakers’ pressing needs: perimeter and point-of-attack defense, 3-point shooting and Anthony Davis‘ backup.
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Dennis Schröder, Dorian Finney-Smith, Day’Ron Sharpe, Shake Milton
Brooklyn Nets receive: D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2029 first-round pick (top-5 protected, else a 2030 second-rounder; from Lakers), 2031 first-round pick (top-5 protected, else a 2031 second-rounder; from Lakers), $4 million trade exception (Day’Ron Sharpe), $2.9 million trade exception (Shake Milton)
Detroit Pistons receive: Maxwell Lewis (from Lakers), Rights to Vanja Marinković (from Nets), $2 million (from Lakers)
“The Lakers are invested in the LeBron James/Anthony Davis tandem. They aren’t going to pivot to rebuild, and while the incoming Nets may be short on star power, they fit L.A.’s specific needs. The Lakers might need until the deadline to see if they can get more for their picks, but this deal starts with Finney-Smith as a multi-positional defender who adds needed shooting (43.2 percent from three),” Pincus wrote.
Balancing Lakers’ Flawed Roster
The main theme of Pincus’ trade idea is to balance the Lakers’ flawed roster at the cost of their future draft capital.
If the Lakers truly want to make a run in the final years of James’ elite level and ease the burden on Davis, this trade is the one that fills their needs.
Finney-Smith, Schröder and Milton averaged a combined six 3-pointers per game, which is more than half of what they are losing in this trade scenario, with Russell the only one who’s making two 3s per game.
If this carries over after this hypothetical trade, the Lakers should jump from the bottom seven in 3-pointers made to cracking the top 10 most prolific 3-point shooting teams.
While Schröder and Reaves still make a small backcourt in size, the German point guard is a much better defender than Russell and a better playmaker than Vincent, Pincus noted. Plus, Schröder is already familiar with playing alongside James and Davis.
Sharpe could give the Lakers the “bruising” big man, which first-year coach JJ Redick coveted since he took the job.
Dorian Finney-Smith’s Interest Dates Back to Last Year
The Lakers have their eyes on Finney-Smith for quite some time now, according to Anthony Irwin of Clutchpoints.
“The Lakers checked in on Dorian Finney-Smith last year and have been in kind of constant contact with the Nets about him,” Irwin said during the November 25 episode of the “Lakers Lounge” show on X with his guest, Bleacher Report and The Stein Line’s “People Insider” Jake Fischer.
Irwin added that Finney-Smith is a more realistic trade target for the Lakers than Cam Johnson, whom the Nets highly value.
“Cam Johnson is another name that comes to mind, but his asking price is kind of tough for the Lakers to match,” Irwin said.
Finney-Smith’s versatility on defense, especially on the perimeter, is what this current Lakers roster lacks since they dumped Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and let Alex Caruso walk.
A scenario of having either Finney-Smith or sharpshooter rookie Dalton Knecht in the Lakers’ lineup would open the floor for their stars.
Finney-Smith is sinking 43.2% of his 3-pointers this season while averaging 10.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game for the Nets this season.
