Okay guys, I have to get this in super fast because by the time you read this, everything might change!
LakerNation is reeling in both a good and bad way after the Lakers traded away young budding superstar (or budding bust, depending on who you are) D’Angelo Russell to the Nets. Now this trade was mostly an attempted to dump the questionable massive contract that Timofey Mozgov had as he was also traded to the Nets. In return the Lakers received talented stretch 5 Brook Lopez and the Nets 27th draft pick in this year’s loaded draft class.
So there are a couple of ways to look at this. If this is the end of the trade action, then we have questions, right? Does this mean that the proverbial keys have been given to whoever they draft at number 2? This is widely expected to be Lonzo Ball. But that has not been guaranteed. It could be De’Aaron Fox although it’s been said that his lack of outside shooting prowess puts him at a disadvantage. Even so, this puts a great amount of pressure on whoever takes the reigns as point guard to do fill the void. If this is the end of the trades one can hope that this trade provides a great opportunity for Jordan Clarkson. Anybody who knows me knows that JC has been my pick for “next up” in Lakerland. His game was stunted by the drafting of Dloading. The media and the Laker’s brass considered him the possible face of the franchise and Clarkson was slighted in every way including coming off the bench last season. Clarkson, a true shooting guard, took over the reigns late in the season under Byron Scott and made a name for himself. His feisty, fearless attack and developing jump shot and on-ball defense makes him a great piece for the Lakers core…or trade bait. With a backcourt potentially being JC and Lonzo Ball, you have a great finisher and shooter and an amazing facilitator working together. Your frontcourt is Julius Randle, Brandon Ingram and Brook Lopez. Not bad.
However, various sources indicate that this is not the end of the trades. Lakers are reportedly trying to prepare a package sweet enough to trade for Pacers superstar Paul George. For those who missed it, Paul George reportedly told Indiana he would not return to Indy after next season and consider Lakers a top destination. Additionally, teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers have begun talking to Indiana prompting Magic and Rob to make every attempt to acquire Paul George so that he doesn’t re-up with a championship team. What this means is that nothing is sacred. The Lakers reportedly tried to trade down with the Sacramento Kings to obtain 2 picks and were rejected. In which case this now creates a volatile situation in which every Lakers young core player is up for grabs. By the end of this blog will Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson even be Lakers anymore? Will the Lakers even have their number 2 pick? Sources said that the #2 pick and Brandon Ingram were off limits…but now the #2 pick isn’t necessarily off limits anymore.
Opponents of the initial trade suggest that Dloading was going to be great and was considered one of the bright spots of last years dismal season. He improved greatly over the latter part of the season and put a 40 point game together on Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers. HIs cocky attitude, creative passing and quickly developing jump shot made him a shoe-in for the Lakers next superstar. The view is that Magic and Rob basically let him go for peanuts. This trade may be even more detrimental if they are not able to swing a deal for Paul George.
However, reports (and my girl Fax at the barbershop) say that Magic was not too impressed with D’Angelo Russell and that coach Luke Walton took issue with his work ethic. Perhaps the consensus was that he would not be the one that would take the reigns from Kobe. Further evidence was the fact that Brandon Ingram, not D’Angelo Russell, was considered “untouchable” in trade talks.
So we can’t necessarily “grade” this trade until we know what its finality is. What I can safely say is I thought D’Angelo Russell was going to be a great player. That being said, it was a good move if they intend on bringing in a quality point guard via the draft and also intend on getting Paul George without surrendering too much. At this point it looks like Magic and Rob are hell-bent on bringing in PG. I just hope that they do not completely gut this promising young core, thus leaving the Lakers with few pieces to support a superstar-caliber player.
From a financial standpoint we can applaud the Lakers brass for being able to finally unload Moz and his fat contract. This frees up the Lakers to offer max money to a superstar from the highly stacked 2018 free agent class. Rumors and reports have linked the Lakers to both Paul George and Lebron James as preferred destinations. The question is was Dloading really that expendable.
Of course we die-hard Lakers fans tend to attach ourselves to players whereas businessmen like Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka can detach.
Let’s just hope when the smoke clears, the Los Angeles Lakers are much better for it.
Stay tuned.
The Lakers Optimist 