After missing out on their free-agent targets, the Los Angeles Lakers are pivoting to the trade market to add an impact player.
The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported that such a move is still in play before the new season tips off.
“The Lakers expect to make a consolidation trade at some point, though that could come closer to the start of the season, according to league sources,” Buha wrote on July 16.
The Lakers have struck out from their initial free-agent targets Klay Thompson, Jonas Valanciunas and James Harden to their backup plans DeMar DeRozan and Gary Trent Jr.
Trent was the latest miss for the Lakers as the prolific 3-point shooter opted to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks on a one-year veteran minimum deal, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Why Lakers Are Stuck in the Mud?
Buha pinned the blame on the Lakers doling out player options instead of team options to their offseason signings last year.
“One of the reasons the Lakers have been unable to make any signings and had to explore trades is that four roster holdovers who were given second-year player options last summer — D’Angelo Russell, Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish — opted in due to their performances last season and the tight free-agent market,” Buha wrote.
Of the four players, only Russell ($18.7 million) holds value as a salary ballast in a trade for an impact player who earns similar or less money.
With the four holdovers picking up their player options, the Lakers roster is currently full which made it impossible for them to go after Trent even if they have the $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception to offer.
The Lakers have to offload some of them to create a roster spot and use the midlevel exception.
JJ Redicks’ Wish List: ‘Big, Bruising Man’
After missing out on Valanciunas, Redick still hopes the Lakers could get a center of a similar ilk via trade to ease the defensive burden on Anthony Davis.
“You certainly have to look at what I think is actually a very good roster, a very balanced roster, Redick said in an interview with Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “We’d love to, we tried, but we’d love to, at some point, get another five man, a big bruising five man.
“You look at the Western Conference right now, whether it’s Denver, Minnesota, OKC with what they added, certainly Memphis, they’re going to be back in the hunt, they added Zach Edey, certain matchups in the playoffs, you’re going to need a lot of size.”
Redick wants to add size to counter Nuggets‘ three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Timberwolves‘ Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and Thunder’s Chet Holmgren and free agent acquisition Isaiah Hartenstein.
Lakers Add G League Coach of the Year
The Lakers have beefed up Redick’s coaching staff by hiring G League Coach of the Year Lindsey Hardin, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Harding, 39, coached the Stockton Kings to the Western Conference Finals of the G League last season after working as a player development coach for the Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings.
She joins former NBA head coaches Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks and holdover Greg St. Jean, who started as a player development coach under Frank Vogel during the Lakers’ championship run in 2020.
Harding and Redick are reunited in Los Angeles after spending time together in Philadelphia and at Duke.
As Duke stars, Redick (2006) and Harding (2007) won the Naismith College Player of the Year in their decorated college careers. Harding was a player development coach when Redick played for the 76ers from 2017 to 2019.
