Zach Lavine has made his choice to join the Los Angeles Lakers alongside LeBron James and lakers news.
Less than a month remains until the NBA trade deadline, and several teams are eager to make roster changes to improve their weak squads. These four teams, who range from those hoping to win a championship to those seeking to completely overhaul their roster, are in dire need of a trade deadline makeover.
All figures are as of January 14.
Los Angeles Lakers (19-21)
The Los Angeles Lakers are currently 11th in the Western Conference rankings following their defeat to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. Due to a confluence of injuries, dubious roster choices, and regression, the Lakers have experienced offensive struggles.
“We must exert ourselves. After the 124-115 loss, centre Anthony Davis stated, “These next five or six games at home are going to be a big stretch of games for us,” as reported by Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
It’s obvious that something is wrong with this team, and in order to refresh the roster, they need to make another midseason deal. Zach LaVine, a guard for the Chicago Bulls, has been connected to the Lakers for a while, but according to Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report, the organisation might not have enough money to acquire the two-time All-Star.
In the event that a LaVine deal is not imminent, the Lakers must continue to pursue a reliable third option to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Although D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves have the equipment to play that position, neither player is reliable enough to carry it out. Russell is a poor choice because of his defensive flaws and inconsistent shooting, and Reaves lacks the explosiveness and solitary scoring to produce consistent offence.
Dejounte Murray of the Hawks and Terry Rozier of the Hornets are two guys who can provide the Lakers with the supplementary playmaking and shot creation they need. Both players are part of underperforming clubs who are either bottoming out to get a better draft pick (Hornets) or rebuilding their squad (Hawks). The franchise may also look into lower contracts for guys like Malcolm Brogdon of the Trail Blazers or Tyus Jones of the Wizards.
In any possible trade, the Lakers could throw up their first-round pick in 2029 or 2030 in addition to some intriguing young talent in Rui Hachimura (25), Max Christie (20), and Jalen Hood-Schifino (20). The squad needs to make a change if its performance doesn’t improve even with the new additions to the roster.
Golden State Warriors (18-21)
Despite somewhat of a redemption from the Warriors on Friday night, beating the Chicago Bulls, 140-131, the team dropped its following game to the Bucks, 129-118, on Saturday. Golden State is finding itself in a downward spiral that has left it searching for answers.
Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the team is looking into every possible avenue to improve the roster and everyone on the team outside of Curry is available for trade.
The team’s salary of $30.8 million for Chris Paul and $24.3 million for Andrew Wiggins, along with the fascinating young components Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, should assist facilitate any possible deal.The suspension of Draymond Green has played a major role in the Warriors’ defensive decline over the past two weeks, according to Cleaning the Glass. We should anticipate a rise in their defensive effectiveness since the former Defensive Player of the Year is expected to return to the court soon, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
The ability to consistently create shots outside of Curry is the greater issue. Klay Thompson’s career-worst three-point shooting season is currently at 38.7, while Wiggins’s performance is significantly worse than it was last year in almost every statistical category.
Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, who has been connected to the Warriors, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, offers the versatile skill set that the Warriors need. The Raptors should focus on a player like Kyle Kuzma, who is a similar archetype to Siakam but maybe not as expensive, if general manager Masai Ujiri’s asking price is too high.
Curry, 35, is nearing the end of his career, thus the organisation cannot afford to waste any more seasons with him in the lineup.
Atlanta Hawks (15-23)
It’s time for the Atlanta Hawks to admit that the Dejounte Murray/Trae Young pairing isn’t going to work out. The Hawks traded for Murray in 2022 to be a secondary ball-handler, allowing Young to play more off the ball and utilize his gravity as a three-point shooter.
That hasn’t happened as Young insists on having the ball in his hands, forcing Murray into a spot-up shooter role, a major disservice to the skillset Murray brings to the table.
In the times Young does relinquish the ball, the offense regresses to a “your turn, my turn” style of play. The obvious choice would be to move off of Murray for a more traditional two-guard who is a better fit next to Young.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the group thinks that “they’ve gone as far as they’ll probably go on Dejounte Murray’s pairing with Trae Young in the backcourt.”
The Hawks are in serious need of a lockdown perimeter defender as they rank 26th in defence. Murray, who is 6 feet 5 inches tall, lacks the size to compete with the league’s best players, and Deandre Hunter and Saddiq Bey perform similarly poorly.
Hawks fans should put Bulls guard Alex Caruso and Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith at the top of their list. Both can contribute offensively without requiring the ball in their hands and are strong wing defenders.
In exchange for Murray, the Hawks forfeited a king’s ransom, which included three first-round picks. The group must stay clear of the
Orlando Magic (21-18)
The Orlando Magic started the season on a roll, winning 14 of their first 20 games, but have fallen off since, going 7-12 and dropping to eighth place.
This team is the perfect candidate for a consolidation trade as there are simply too many good players on this team who all want touches — a consequence of consistently drafting in the lottery.
The Magic have a top-three defense, but the same can’t be said on offense where the team ranks 24th. The Magic are also bottom-five in three-point attempts, makes and percentage, a death sentence offensively in today’s NBA.
After the club lost 113-92 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 9, player Franz Wagner said, “We’re probably not the best shooting team in the league,” as reported by AP’s Dick Scanlon.
The Magic must improve their offensive line if they hope to have a real shot at the playoffs. They can afford to bring in a player who is more focused on offence without jeopardising their defensive performance because they have a strong enough defence.
The Pacers’ Buddy Hield and the Pistons’ Bojan Bogdanovic should be two players at the top of their list. Both are knockdown shooters at 40.1 and 39.5 percent respectively and can come in and quickly jumpstart this Orlando offense without radically altering how the team plays.
If the team is unwilling to part with the assets to get a deal done, they can look into more inexpensive options such as Landry Shamet, Luke Kennard or Seth Curry, all of whom are seeing limited minutes with their team.
