Does this trade make sense for the Los Angeles Lakers?
The Los Angeles Lakers’ defensive woes are definitely a major storyline, but their biggest concern right now is just getting everybody healthy and on the court. LeBron James, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza, Talen Horton-Tucker, Austin Reaves and Rajon Rondo are all out right now with different injuries and even Anthony Davis is dealing with his own thumb injury, but it has not forced him to miss any games yet.
DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard, and Anthony Davis make up the Lakers’ frontcourt right now, and quite honestly, they do not need to change that. At full strength, the Lakers will be going with smaller lineups anyways with Davis at the center position with LeBron James and Russell Westbrook surrounded by shooters and defenders.
Adding Daniel Theis to this team does not make them drastically better in any area of the floor and quite honestly, this would be a waste of money on the Lakers’ end of things long-term. Theis is owed $35.6M through the 2024-25 season and $26.1M through the 2023-24 season should his team option for the final year of his contract not be picked up.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in “championship mode” as long as LeBron James is on this team and as a result, they do not want to be tied down to long-term contracts. The only long-term deals they want to have on their roster are for their core superstar players, as everyone else is basically on a minimum-type contract.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Rockets’ John Wall To Sit For Entire 2021-22 NBA Season?
This fit does not make much sense for Los Angeles and giving up Kendrick Nunn after he has not played a single game in a Laker uniform would be foolish.
Through the first two seasons of his career, Kendrick Nunn has averaged 15.0 points, 3.0 assists and has shot 45.8% from the floor, 36.4% from three-point range.
He is a role player that the Lakers could and will utilize in their second unit when he is healthy, taking a lot of pressure off of guys like Westbrook and James to be primary facilitators for this team.
Given his three-point shooting abilities and quickness on the defensive end of the floor, the Lakers have a lot to gain by having Kendrick Nunn on their roster.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Rockets’ John Wall To Sit For Entire 2021-22 NBA Season?
The Los Angeles Lakers roster was assembled with one purpose in mind and that was to pursue a championship. They have no need to add larger contracts to their roster right now and the only trades they will be making are for either minimum contract players or other All-Star talents like Bradley Beal or Damian Lillard, which is unlikely to happen this season.
