Lakers Rumors: Lakers Players Consider Team A Few Trades Away From Contention?

Recent ESPN scuttlebutt suggests the team thinks it can get into contention with some crafty maneuvering...

Your Los Angeles Lakers seem to think that the team could be a title contender again... with some clever front office decisions, of course.

After starting out the 2022-23 season a miserable 2-10 (against a tough schedule, to be fair), the team has since gone 5-1, moving its record back up to a "respectable" 7-11.

Sources inform the well-connected Dave McMenamin of ESPN that "leaders in the Lakers' locker room" believe the team could be transformed into a Western Conference powerhouse once again, but that it may take more than one trade for that to happen.

McMenamin notes that L.A. could look to move Russell Westbrook and one of its two tradable future first-round draft picks for multiple players, in addition to a combination of Kendrick Nunn and Patrick Beverley's salaries (together worth $18.3 million), plus perhaps just one of the team's two highly-coveted first-round draft picks in 2027 or 2029 for a solid player. 

Westbrook has actually been a really solid contributor to L.A since being moved to a bench role with the club early on in the season, McMenamin adds. Beverley and Nunn, meanwhile, have been relatively unhelpful. 

Beverley remains a decent defender, but has become such an underwhelming shooter that it has begun to feel as if his minutes are earned more by reputation than results. In 14 games, Beverley is averaging a brutal 4.1 points on .266/.238/.824 shooting splits, across 27.4 minutes! That's a lot of time to not score. He's also averaging almost as many fouls (3.1) as he is points, never a great sign for your starting point guard. One wonders if Darvin Ham will continue to employ Beverley as the team's starter once he returns from his three-game suspension on Wednesday. Dennis Schröder has looked significantly better as the team's starting point guard over the last two games, just from a scoring perspective. Austin Reaves has also emerged as a better two-way guard than Beverley. 

Nunn has had a few big nights, but generally has given L.A. very little this season. The 6'2" combo guard out of the University of Oakland is averaging just 5.9 points on .374/.294/.857 shooting splits in just 14.1 minutes a night.