Lakers: Two Knicks Trade Pitches To Bring Youth To Los Angeles

Today's opponents have some assets.

Your Los Angeles Lakers clearly need some help around the fringes of their rotation. I'd actually argue that they could use some help everywhere, and should be looking to move off Russell Westbrook's insane $47.1 million deal posthaste.

Lakers Send Patrick Beverley, Juan Toscano-Anderson And Two Second-Rounders To Knicks For Derrick Rose, Immanuel Quickley

The money would work for this level of exchange, and while Rose and his remaining two-year contract are a downgrade from Beverley and his expiring money, the real prize here would be Quickley, a young shooting guard with plenty of tantalizing upside, who could immediately help LA's guard depth. Obi Toppin,

Lakers Send Russell Westbrook, First-Round Pick To Knicks For RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier, And Derrick Rose

The big issue with this kind of deal is that Fournier technically has three years remaining on a current big money deal, although it's really just next season, because 2024-25 is a team option. The veteran shooting guard has been so lackluster for New York that he's out of the rotation. Rose, who is similarly is no longer in Tom Thibodeau's good graces with New York, has a $15.6 million club option in 2023-24, meaning he's effectively coming off the books this summer. 

The Lakers would have to be really excited about young swingman RJ Barrett, the former third pick in the 2019 NBA draft out of Duke. Beyond the long-term money of Fournier, Barrett is also going to get a big raise next year, when his new four-year, $107 million contract extension kicks in (it could be worth up to $120 million if he meets certain incentives).

To be fair, Barrett is an exciting young player with All-Star upside, and would represent a massive upgrade on the wing for the Lakers. LA could always try to package Fournier and Rose, along with another first-round pick, later this season, or wait till the draft, when the team's 2023 first-rounder (the Pelicans' pick, most likely) becomes trade-eligible.