NBA trade deadline winners and losers: Lakers, Suns make their move
By Ian Levy
Winner: LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers
As much as it may pain fans of the other 29 teams, the Lakers did get a lot better at the trade deadline, enough to actually change their fortunes this season. Counting the Hachimura trade from late January, they turned Patrick Beverley, Russell Westbrook, Thomas Bryant, Kendrick Nunn, a 2027 first-round pick and a bunch of second-round picks into Rui Hachimura, Mo Bamba, Davon Reed, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt.
Stack up the players in and players out next to each other and that’s a lot of talent and skill upgrades accomplished without even having to give up both of those future first-rounders. The Lakers added big bodies to help take the physical load of Anthony Davis in the playoffs. They added versatile defenders, players who can create their own shot and a group of outside shooters considerably more threatening than anyone else previously on the roster.
They’ll still need a lot of things to break their way in a playoff series, particularly against teams like the Suns, Nuggets and Grizzlies. But they’ve done enough to maybe even escape the play-in tournament and hopefully keep LeBron happy and engaged.