Lakers News: Insider Proposes Double Sign-And-Trade To Send All Star Center To LA
The Lakers have a bunch of questions that they need to answer as the offseason begins. Which players return to the team? Do they go out and make any major trades to upgrade the roster? It'll all be clear in a few months but for now the speculation is sky high.
Stephen Noh of The Sporting News recently proposed a deal for the Lakers to acquire Chicago Bulls All-Star center Nikola Vucevic in a two-way sign and trade deal.
"The Lakers could use Vucevic, and they have two potential targets that could be used in a double sign-and-trade: Malik Beasley, who has a team option, or, ironically, Russell," Noh writes. "Both are very flawed players, but at least they can shoot. The Bulls could probably squeeze a draft asset out of the Lakers, too."
Noh mentions the Lakers using either Malik Beasley or D'Angelo Russell in a potential Vucevic deal. The 32-year-old center would provide the Lakers with a big man to play alongside Anthony Davis and he has the ability to shoot the ball well. This past season, he averaged 17.6 points and 11 rebounds per game, while shooting 34.9 percent from beyond the arch.
He could give them a floor spacing big man with a scoring punch. The offense would instantly be upgraded but I have concerns about this possible deal.
First off, it's been reported that Vucevic and the Bulls want to stay together. Now things can change obviously but they seem like a match. Secondly and most importantly, getting one player to agree to a sign-and-trade is hard enough, let alone two.
If the Lakers are going to trade Beasley, they can just pick up his team option and trade him that way. But for Russell, they likely would be able to get more value than Vucevic. And to be honest, Russell may provide more value to this current Lakers team than Vucevic.
Vucevic isn't the greatest defender and while playing alongside Davis would help, he isn't the prototype to play the five next to Davis.
The likelihood of a trade like this happening is low. But it makes sense for the Lakers to look at every angle to try and build a championship roster around LeBron James while he is still playing. This is as crucial as any offseason for the team since James arrived years ago.
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