Lakers Land Serbian Sniper And Rim Protector In Mock Trade Deal With Hawks
The Lakers can make a deal that lands them the perfect duo from the Hawks to contend for a title now.
The Los Angeles Lakers have had a quiet offseason, with the only major additions on the roster being Dalton Knecht and Bronny James from the NBA Draft and new head coach JJ Redick.
Beyond that, they’ve struck out on almost every player that they’ve tried to sign while also struggling to make trades happen to improve their roster.
It’s clear that the Lakers haven’t been able to get a deal done due to their unrealistic valuation of their own players, which extends to making players such as Austin Reaves untouchable.
Trading Reaves will unlock a whole new market of players for the Lakers, which also will help them limit their trading away future draft picks with an aging core. Using Reaves and Rui Hachimura could net the Lakers two valuable players.
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Clint Capela
Atlanta Hawks Receive: Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, 2025 Second-Round Pick (LAL),2027 Second-Round Pick (LAL)
The Hawks take on the albatross contract of Vincent in this deal which is giving them two young and valuable rotational players that can fit around Trae Young right now to keep their team viable as a playoff threat.
Meanwhile, JJ Redick gets his wish of adding a big man next to Anthony Davis while getting an elite shooter like Bogdan Bogdanovic on an expiring contract.
The Lakers Fill Two Key Needs
The Lakers have clear needs on their roster, with more on-ball players not being one of them. The success LeBron James and AD are having on Team USA shows the certain archetypes of players needed alongside them to maximize their impact.
James is the point forward for Team USA while Davis often has support from another big man, making his free-roam defense one of the biggest defensive assets of the team.
This deal will facilitate the acquisition of Bogdan Bogdanovic, who averaged 16.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists last season while shooting 37.4%.
He’d be the best shooter the Lakers have had in a long-time while fulfilling many of the roles Reaves held offensively outside on-ball creativity, for which the team already has James and D’Angelo Russell. Bogdanovic is a specialist who’ll optimize the Lakers downtrodden offense from last season.