Nicolas Batum

There’s an added bonus in signing Nicolas Batum for the Los Angeles Lakers. They’d be wrestling him away from their inner-city rivals in the process of doing so.

They may be willing to let him go. After all, the LA Clippers acquired the functionally similar Robert Covington at last year’s trade deadline. They could decide that they can’t afford to commit cap space to a similar, lesser player.

The Lakers would be smart to capitalize. Nicolas Batum is a versatile wing who can play any frontcourt position. His ability to man the 5 in small-ball lineups could be particularly helpful in maximizing Westbrook’s effectiveness.

Of course, many Lakers fans will be hoping that isn’t a consideration. Still, Westbrook was a problem last year, but he wasn’t this team’s only problem. They’ll need a bounce back year from Davis and a better supporting cast to return to relevancy in 2022-23.

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Any one of these targets would at least help with the latter concern.