For years, the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to find a two-way wing to fill out their frontcourt alongside Anthony Davis and LeBron James. They currently employ Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt, both of whom are significantly more impactful on one end of the court than the other. As combining those two players is probably against the rules in the current CBA, the Lakers must instead find such a player on the trade market.
Cam Johnson is the top two-way wing on the trade market. The Lakers have the pieces necessary to meet the Brooklyn Nets' asking price. The question, once again, is whether Rob Pelinka will push those chips into the middle of the table.
The Pros
Johnson would immediately solidify the Lakers' frontcourt and become the team's best two-way role player (on nights he's focused defensively). He's currently hitting 42% of the 7.6 threes per game he's attempting. The 19.1 points per game he is scoring is the highest of his career. Most importantly, though, he's played in 27 of the 28 games Brooklyn has played so far this season.
If he's able to stay healthy and continue scoring at anywhere near that pace, he'd take the Lakers back in the direction of defensive versatility and shooting that helped win the 2019-20 championship.
The Cons
Acquiring Johnson is going to be expensive. He's the most sought-after trade piece this year outside the stars on the market. Every team in the running for the playoffs could use a player like Johnson, which will allow Brooklyn to essentially set its price.
Johnson also doesn't have a great track record when it comes to availability. Last year, he played in only 58 games for Brooklyn, which was a huge improvement over the year prior, when he was available for 42 games combined between his time in Phoenix and Brooklyn. He's only played 60 or more games twice.
While Johnson is the best combination of threes and defense on the trade market, the defense part of that equation is pretty inconsistent, though it's hard to say how much of that has to do with the morose situation he's coming from in Brooklyn.
Johnson also has bonuses that increase the amount of money teams need to send out to land him, which complicates trading for him even further. As such, a third team that could take on some salary would need to be brought into negotiations.
So, moving the necessary draft capital and contracts won't be cheap, and there's still a decent chance he'll miss time or the defense he plays won't meet the expectations that come with the hefty price tag.
Speaking of…
The Cost
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According to league sources, Brooklyn is expecting to land at least one first-rounder, plus potentially either some second-round compensation or a promising prospect. Brooklyn would also prefer to not take money beyond this season for any of the players they're acquiring, unless it's attached to said prospect, of course.
In this case, one potential offer would be D'Angelo Russell, Dalton Knecht, a first, and whatever additional salaries going wherever they would need to go. Rather than including Knecht, the Lakers could try to offer additional draft compensation.
The Likelihood
As much as Johnson would help the Lakers, it's hard to see the now extremely conservative Pelinka push this many chips into the middle of the table on one player who isn't a star. Sources close to the team have been adamant about how reluctant the Lakers would be to include Knecht in trades as he was their one win of the offseason.
Things obviously change quickly and the Lakers currently sitting atop the Pacific Division certainly helps, but Johnson winding up a Laker would be a pretty big surprise.
