Cole AnthonyLauren Leigh Bacho/NBAE via Getty Images
Lakers Receive: Jerami Grant and Cole Anthony
Lakers Lose: D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jalen Hood-Schifino, a top-three protected 2029 first-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick
With the exception of 23-year-old rookie Dalton Knecht and the most-talked-about No. 55 pick in NBA history, the Lakers are essentially running it back with a team that finished shy of 50 wins in the regular season and got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.
If it doesn’t do anything else this summer, the biggest difference for L.A. could very well be the fact that LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both a year older.
Playing out the final stretch of LeBron’s career in a sort of organic way and hanging on to as many future picks as possible is a justifiable stance, but Lakers fans (and LeBron himself) might get restless. The status quo probably won’t make the Lakers contenders, especially with several other teams in the West improving this offseason.
If the Lakers can’t land a third superstar to go with James and AD, something along these lines is probably the next best bet to threaten that top tier.
In a vacuum, Cole Anthony is slightly worse than Russell, but he’s younger and would likely have no problem coming off the bench. That’d clear the way for Austin Reaves to start as the Lakers’ nominal point guard and make the entire starting lineup bigger.
The more important acquisition is Grant. The 30-year-old wing has proven to be a reliable three-point shooter and 20-point-per-game scorer with the Detroit Pistons and Portland. In lineups with LeBron and Davis, his lack of rebounding wouldn’t be as damaging.
L.A. would be giving up a starter, multiple potential rotation players and some picks, but the resulting roster would be better. That’s an improvement over the status quo.
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