One trade every NBA team needs to make
By Tom West
Los Angeles Lakers
Is David Lee going to carry the Lakers back to their accustomed glory among the NBA elite? Of course not. However, he may be able to be another valuable veteran presence to work with the likes of Julius Randle, contribute on offense, or simply be a major financial benefit. Because if the Lakers don’t want Lee going forward, they can let him go when his contract expires after this season and gain $15.49 million extra in cap space.
And if there’s a summer you want a ton of cap space, it’s the summer of 2016.
This trade idea is to add some realism to the NBA trade rumors that fly around. The Lakers simply don’t have many assets at all if they want to keep the young talent they have in tact. Players like D’Angelo Russell, Randle, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. need to stay put, which means there aren’t many players who can be used to pull off a substantial trade right now.
Mitch Kupchak has made this clear himself (in an interview with Time Warner Cable Sportsnet, transcribed by Silver Screen and Roll):
"Most of the teams that would have interest in our players would have interest in our young players and we covet our young players pretty highly right now. So it would be tough for us to move a young player… I suspect that there will be more activity going forward, but I wouldn’t suspect a blockbuster deal."
It’s hard to see any blockbuster deal that could take place right now, meaning that a possible trade for Lee could work. If he fits and the Lakers like what he brings offensively, they can keep him.
Who they can offer is tricky, as a straight swap with Roy Hibbert makes little sense in terms of salary cap benefits as his $15.5 million contract expires at the end of this season too, just like Lee. Otherwise, the Lakers are going to need to put together multiple players such as Nick Young, Brandon Bass and someone else for cap reasons. This sacrifices several pieces but they aren’t too valuable anyway, and if they can let go of both Hibbert and Lee after the season, they have just over $30 million extra in cap space.
That’s a serious amount of money to make themselves one of the top buyers in free agency.
Next: Minnesota Timberwolves