Free agency across the NBA officially started nearly two weeks ago, and yet the Los Angeles Lakers have still done virtually nothing so far to improve their roster.
Their only moves so far as far as adding new players have been to sign draft picks Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. They haven’t signed any players away from other teams, nor have they pulled off a trade to bring in an outside player.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t trying. They reportedly have interest in trading for Utah Jazz big man Lauri Markkanen and Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (h/t Lakers Daily).
Via Heavy Sports:
“In the coming weeks, the league’s trade market is expected to heat up, and the hope in Lakerland is that once that happens, the team will be in position to make the kind of move that can push them back into contender-hood,” wrote Sean Deveney.
“But the pickings are going to be slim. The Lakers have interest in Lauri Markkanen of the Jazz, but likely won’t have enough capital on hand to get him to L.A. The list of other possible targets—from Zach LaVine and Jerami Grant to Walker Kessler and Malcolm Brogdon—likely won’t move the needle much for the Lakers.
“One guy of interest, though, who could help the Lakers check a few boxes remains a possible trade target: Magic center Wendell Carter Jr.”
Getting Markkanen, who made the All-Star team during the 2022-23 season and has averaged 24.5 points and 8.4 rebounds a game the last two seasons, is probably unrealistic for L.A. He would probably cost multiple draft picks, and other teams would likely be able to put together a more attractive trade package than L.A. could.
But Carter could be gettable for the Purple and Gold.
The 6-foot-10, 270-pound big man has career averages of 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in 27.6 minutes a game. While he isn’t a big-time shot-blocker (he has averaged 0.8 blocks a contest for his career), he has gradually improved his 3-point shot. This past season, he made 37.4% of his 3-point attempts.
The concern with Carter is his health — he has appeared in at least 60 games just once in his career.
But perhaps he could make a nice big man duo with Anthony Davis while allowing the Lakers to employ the type of big lineups they had during their championship season in 2020.