Former NBA Wing Thinks Lakers Trading for All-Star Could Lead to Deep Playoff Run

Los Angeles has stumbled to a 13-11 season start. Would a trade rescue the team from another play-in year?

Nov 20, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine (8) defends against Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers have stumbled to a mediocre 13-11 season start. Would a trade rescue them from a third straight year mired in the play-in doldrums — or worse?

Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams thinks so. On their FanDuel TV show "Run It Back," alongside Michelle Beadle, the two former longtime NBA perimeter stars agreed that L.A. is currently not an inner circle title contender this year, despite fielding a pair of future Hall of Famers who are still very much All-Stars, All-NBA Second Team Lakers center Anthony Davis and All-NBA Third Team Los Angeles power forward LeBron James.

Both Parsons and Williams believe a trade is in order to shake up L.A.'s varoius personnel issues. The most glaring problem currently, from an injury perspective,is a total lack of healthy center depth behind Davis, as Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood are hurt and the Lakers are employing two-way player Christian Koloko to fill up his backup minutes. The biggest, most existential issue, however, is perimeter defensive depth. Forward Jarred Vanderbilt, like Wood, is recovering from offseason surgery and has yet to play a single game for Los Angeles. He would help on the perimeter defense end, but he's not going to be all that cure what ails the Lakers in that department.

Zach LaVine would make the Lakers contenders in the wide-open NBA West 🤯

Lou and Chandler think LA is a few moves away from making a deep push in the playoffs

📺 https://t.co/rf97duBLJQ @MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @ChandlerParsons pic.twitter.com/DjSUHhmxm5

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) December 3, 2024

"This team is more health-driven than [anything]," Parsons said. "So they need LeBron James come postseason time, they need Anthony Davis even more so than LeBron James come postseason time."

Last year, Davis played a career-best 76 games, while James played his most ever since joining the Lakers in 2018, 71. Those were more the exceptions than the rule, as both players had dealt with major health woes during most of the rest of their L.A. tenures.

"And we're also talking about a team, historically, that makes moves at the trade deadline to make sure they are in a position to contend for a championship," Williams added. "So who knows what happens in February? Right now, they're just like anybody else. If the playoffs started tomorrow, they would be in them, and they would have an opportunity."

Parsons pitched a deal for an oft-rumored Lakers trade target, former UCLA star Zach LaVine, now a two-time All-Star sniper with the Chicago Bulls.

"I do like them making a move though, I like a Zach LaVine, they need like an explosive wing scorer. The more shooting they get I think the better they are. That opens up the whole floor for LeBron and Anthony Davis," Parsons posited.

LaVine's addition, of course, would be pricey, given that he's currently making $43 million this year, and is under contract through 2026-27. His play this year represents a significant improvement over his injury-limited performance for Chicago in 2023-24, and has gone a long way towards at least restoring his trade value.

The 6-foot-5 pro, 29, is averaging 22.1 points on elite .506/.432/.800 shooting splits, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 0.8 steals a game. He's already appeared in 22 contests (all starts), nearly matching his sum of 25 (23 starts) for the Bulls last season.

A trade for LaVine, however, would not solve the Lakers' biggest problem, in this writer's opinion: perimeter defense. So, while a deal for him could improve the team's offense, it would like need to be followed up with another deal.

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