Los Angeles Lakers: 2020-21 Record – 42-30, Last Playoff Appearance: 2021
Target: G/F Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers)
With LeBron James and Anthony Davis as the two focal points of the Los Angeles Lakers, this franchise is going to be contending for a championship each and every year, but GM Rob Pelinka is going to be looking to add more talent to his team once again this offseason.
The Lakers made big moves last offseason by acquiring Dennis Schroder and signing Montrezl Harrell, but neither guy seemed to pan out the way Los Angeles had imagined. Now, with some room to add another third All-Star-like talent to their roster, the Lakers can be really aggressive in their pursuit for more talent.
This is why Ben Simmons could be a potential trade target for them in the offseason. Simmons was awful for the 76ers in the postseason this year and there have been a ton of NBA trade rumors about the Sixers potentially looking to move him this offseason, which is why the Lakers should take advantage of this opportunity now.
Offensively, there is a lot of work to be done with Simmons and his game, but defensively, he is one of the best players in the NBA. His play style has been compared to LeBron James’ for years now and he has the size to be one of the best players in the NBA, but Ben Simmons just has never developed offensively.
The Los Angeles Lakers would definitely be a team willing to help develop Simmons further and LeBron James should be more than willing to take him “under his wing” and mentor/help develop him into a true superstar in this league.
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Not to mention, Ben Simmons’ agent is Rich Paul, who happens to be LeBron James’ agent and his best friend. Rich Paul has always been tied to James and the organization he is a part of, so it is definitely intriguing to think that the Lakers could be a team interested in Ben Simmons.
However, trading for him could be rather difficult. The Lakers do not really have a lot of valuable trade assets and they do not have many draft picks, which is why a trade of this magnitude may not be in the future of the Lakers. But, this is definitely an intriguing situation seeing as Simmons has ties to LeBron James.
