Lakers: Two Dallas-LA Trade Pitches That Could Suit Both Parties

Deals that make (some) sense for Dallas.

LeBron James is ready and willing, and so your Los Angeles Lakers will make an honest effort to actually beat Luka Doncic and the rest of the visiting Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena tonight.

At 19-22, LA continues to find its footing in what has been an injury-plagued 2022-23 venture thus far.

Dallas, with a just-okay 23-19 record of its own, isn't faring that much better outside of some terrific Doncic performances.

Could these two teams figure out a trade that might make some sense for both parties? Absolutely, though it may require the Mavericks taking a slight step back this season

Dallas has needed marquee help alongside Doncic ever since guard Jalen Brunson departed the club in free agency for the New York Knicks. Brunson looks like a legitimate All-Star candidate this year for a solid Knicks club. Doncic needs a high-level running mate. Would the Mavericks be open to clearing up cap space to make a run at some of the top free agents this summer?

If so (and a lot of this hinges on how Dallas feels about this year's free agent class), the team could look to offload one of its pricier long-term deals, perhaps Tim Hardaway Jr. (who's earning $19.6 million) or Davis Bertans (who's netting $16 million), both good shooters who could help LA (though Bertans is severely overpaid and on a long-term deal, he does fulfill a unique need for the Lakers), to Los Angeles in exchange for the expiring contracts of underwhelming LA guards Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn, cumulatively worth $18.3 million.

The big question, of course, is what kind of draft capital would LA be willing to give up? From LA's perspective, the team would want back more than just Davis Bertans, so the club could request someone like up-and-coming Mavs shooting guard Josh Green, who could help shore up the team's perimeter defense and is still on his rookie scale contract. A trade of Pat Bev and Nunn, plus perhaps a pair of second-round picks, for Bertans and Green could work for both sides, should the Mavericks (a) be amenable to basically punting on the regular season (although Beverley could help on defense) and (b) want to improve through free agency, where Mark Cuban and co. have whiffed many a time.

For Hardaway, who's more of a win-now player than Green, maybe the Beverley and Nunn contracts, plus a top 10-protected future first-round draft selection, could make sense. Hardaway at least could certainly move the needle for Los Angeles in the present tense.