With Whom Should the Lakers Trade? Ranking Raptors, Pistons, Jazz, Spurs!

After a one-night party dreaming of Kyrie Irving, the Los Angeles Lakers are back in the hunt trying to decide if the Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, or would be their best trading partners.

All four teams have appealing trios of quality mid-tier players who would not only work in trades for Russell Westbrook and pick(s) but would also give the Lakers 3 players to upgrade their starting lineup and rotation.
The Lakers would only have to give up one of their two tradeable first round draft pick to trade Russ to three of the four teams, meaning they would still have the matching salaries and a pick to add an elite player.

The Lakers have too many needs and too few assets. The big question is whether the Lakers are better off going after the one player who could make the biggest difference or instead going for depth and versatility?
Then there’s the win now vs. win down the road. The Lakers front office should have been working on multiple variations of what team should be our best trade partner and what kind of team can they make us.

While the Lakers could easily elect to stop and stand pat after an initial trade with any of these four teams, the smart move would be to view these four teams as beginning moves in a series of moves to upgrade the team.
Even if they trade both picks in a big opening move, there are numerous other moves the Lakers can and should make that don’t require a first round pick to execute. The assumption is the Lakers are going all-in.

While it’s easy to get discouraged after missing out on Kyrie Irving, the Lakers made the smart move to pass on offering a package for Kyrie that would have included 2 picks, 2 swaps, and 2 talented young players.
Kudos to Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss for simply ghosting the Raptors and moving back to the four teams with whom they had been engaged before the Irving pipe dream distracted and derailed everything happening.

Ranking the four teams with whom the Lakers are likely to trade starts with evaluating the trio of rotation players coming back, what needs remain after the trade, and what assets do the Lakers have to fill those needs.

1. Toronto Raptors

Trading with the Toronto Raptors for Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent, Jr., and Chris Boucher should be the Lakers’ priority. VanVleet and Trent, Jr. would dramatically upgrade the Lakers’ backcourt 3-point shooting and defense.

The Raptors are the only one of the four teams who have a trio of players that justify the Lakers trading both of their available first round picks. You could easily argue this trade is even worth giving up a 2028 pick swap too.
With the trade for Hachimura, the Lakers front court is set with Rui at the three, LeBron at the four, and Anthony at the five. That puts the team’s greatest need at upgrading their backcourt size, shooting, and defense.

The Lakers would also still have Beverley’s and Walker IV’s expiring contracts and multiple second round picks to pursue trades for a 3&D wing like Cam Reddish or backup rim protecting center like Nerlens Noel.
There are also other players whom the Lakers could pursue for depth and versatility who would not require first round picks to pull off. For example, Patrick Beverley for Nerlens Noel or Lonnie Walker IV for Cam Reddish.

The Lakers’ top option as a trading partner should be the Raptors with a deadline trade of Westbrook, 2027 top-3 protected first round pick, and 2029 unprotected first round pick for VanVleet, Trent, Jr., and Boucher.

2. Detroit Pistons

If the Lakers can’t pull off a trade with the Raptors, they should call next call the Detroit Pistons regarding a possible trade of Westbrook and their 2029 unprotected first round pick for Bogdanovic, Burks, and Noel.

Through everything that’s happened over the last couple of weeks, most observers seem to have forgotten Piston small forward Bojan Bogdanovic is still probably the best overall star shooter for whom the Lakers can trade.
Adding Bogdanovic and Burks as starters would solve the Lakers’ need for volume 3-point shooting while staggering Anthony Davis with Nerlens Noel could provide the Lakers with 48 minutes per game of elite rim protection.

The biggest reason why the Pistons trade ranks below the Raptors trade is the Lakers do not get back a starting quality point guard, which means they need to use Beverley, Walker, and their other draft pick to get that player.
But if the Lakers can somehow pull off a trade with the Raptors for Fred VanVleet, the Hornets for Terry Rozier, or the Heat for Kyle Lowry, then they can make the Pistons their second best path to upgrading the team.

Since the Pistons trade only costs one pick, the Lakers can use Beverley’s and Walker’s expiring contracts plus filler and their other first round pick to trade for a starting point guard like Fred VanVleet or Terry Rozier.

3. Utah Jazz

The Jazz trade not only has a high chance of happening but is also a terrific fit for what the Lakers need. If the Lakers wanted more overall depth, versatility, and size balance, trading with the Jazz could be the answer.

Lakers need shooting and Conley and Beasley are both shooting over 38% on 5 and 8 attempts per game while Vanderbilt is shooting 46% on just one attempt per game. Plus, all three players can ably defend their positions.
Mike Conley is just the kind of sharp shooting, good defending, smart playmaking guard the Lakers need to reverse their fortunes after relying on the uncontrollable chaotic play of Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley.

While Conley is 35, Beasley is just 26 and Vanderbilt 23, all on good tradeable contracts, which is what the Lakers want for Westbrook. Conley, Beasley, and Vanderbilt become the Lakers 5th, 6th, and 7th best players?

4. San Antonio Spurs

What makes the San Antonio Spurs a promising possible trade partner is Jakob Poeltl, who could fill a valuable role as the Lakers backup rim protector off the bench or as a trading chip coveted by the Raptors.

Poeltl is the key to this trade. He’s a terrible free throw shooter but a physical force in the paint both attacking and protecting the rim. He could be the key to being able to prying VanVleet and Trent, Jr. from Toronto.
Frankly, the fact that the Raptors covet Poeltl is probably the only reason the Spurs are ranked above the Jazz. Being able to offer Poeltl and an unprotected 2029 first round pick is better than just the two picks.

Josh Richardson is an excellent 3&D shooting guard with size while Doug McDermott is kind of a poor man’s Bojan Bogdanovic, great shooter who can get his shot and score but not a multi-dimensional difference maker.
Again, like with Detroit, trading with San Antonio almost requires the Lakers to use their second pick to trade for a starting point guard like VanVleet or Rozier so Schröder can replace Westbrook off the bench.

Frankly, unless the Spurs and Poeltl could be a gateway to VanVleet and Trent, Jr., I would say the Spurs were the weakest of the four potential Lakers’ trading partners. Lakers must love Jakob for this to make sense.

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