3 trade packages the Lakers have to avoid in offseason scramble

The Los Angeles Lakers' season reached its premature conclusion on Monday night when Jamal Murray drilled a game-winning jumper with seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. It was a fitting end, honestly. Murray is one of our game's great clutch operators, and it summed up how close this series was. How close the Lakers are.

Los Angeles was outscored by 11 points total across five games in a 4-1 defeat. The Denver Nuggets are clearly the better team, but the margin is slimmer than most folks realize. A few positive tweaks could absolutely place the Lakers back in the realm of contention. Lest we forget, LA was in the conference finals last season. There was a path back there in 2024, they just drew a fatal first-round matchup.

With LeBron James prepared to enter free agency and apply pressure to the Lakers' front office, expect Rob Pelinka to aggressively pursue upgrades. Los Angeles sat idly at the trade deadline and paid the price. Any silly business this summer could cost them a franchise cornerstone and basketball's greatest modern icon.

The Lakers will have three first-round picks to trade, as well as Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and other intriguing talents. Los Angeles should go star-hunting, but the front office needs to be careful. It can't fall into a trap.

Here are a few trades the Lakers should probably steer clear of, or at least carefully consider, and then reconsider.

3. Lakers shouldn't take a second chance on Brandon Ingram

Brandon Ingram's future with the New Orleans Pelicans is very much in doubt after getting swept out of the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder. I've be resistant to the either-or proposition with Ingram and Zion Williamson in the past, but New Orleans is still a piece — or at least a tweak — away from bonafide contention. That, and a healthy postseason run from Zion.

This season made it abundantly clear that New Orleans will float or sink with Zion. He has to be the centerpiece around which the Pelicans are built, even if there is inherent risk to such a strategy. Ingram has been great at keeping New Orleans afloat when Zion goes down, but the Pelicans can't build their roster around a contingency plan. It's time to go all-in on winning with Williamson.

Ingram started his career in LA and was a centerpiece of the Anthony Davis trade. He blossomed in New Orleans, earning an All-Star berth in 2020 and winning Most Improved Player that same season. Ingram checks a lot of boxes in the modern NBA landscape — a tall, versatile wing that can create for teammates and defend multiple positions — but Ingram's inconsistency from 3-point range and limited off-ball utility makes him hard to bank on as a supporting piece in the playoffs.

Los Angeles would surely benefit from Ingram's ability to generate scoring opportunities in the halfcourt and prop up lineups without LeBron, but in terms of finding a true needle-moving third star, the Lakers can probably do better. The right collection of role player upgrades would probably be more impactful. Ingram has a place in the NBA landscape, but the Lakers aren't it. He should remain part of LA's past.

2. Lakers should steer clear of the DeMar DeRozan renaissance

DeMar DeRozan has carefully propped the door open in case his wants to leave the Chicago Bulls this offseason. It's hard to imagine Chicago manifesting a contender out of thin air, and if DeRozan does decide to move on, it's only natural for the LA kid to look at LA. We have heard about DeRozan as a potential Lakers target in the past, and he shouldn't be too pricey in a sign-and-trade situation (the above trade is based on a three-year, $75 million contract for DeRozan).

He has been great in Chicago — a real presence in the community and a stabilizing force on the court — but DeRozan's game is very niche in the current basketball landscape. He has improved as a 3-point shooter, but he is still heavily reliant on mid-range jumpers. DeRozan is great at those shots, but the Lakers don't really need another "star" with limited off-ball utility.

It's wouldn't approach the catasrophe of the Russell Westbrook era, but DeRozan would compress the Lakers' spacing and overlap too heavily with LeBron. The DeRozan-AD fit is tremendous, but planting DeRozan in the dunker's spot or asking him to throw up corner 3s is a poor use of assets. He is going to be a sizable negative on defense, too.

Again, there is value here. DeRozan can carry the non-LeBron lineups. He's going to put up points and pressure the defense in isolations, and his playmaking chops have improved drastically over the last few years. But, as far as finding the right third point on the NBA stardom triangle, the Lakers need to look elsewhere. DeRozan's skill set would be too redundant in purple and gold.

1. Lakers should tread carefully in Trae Young talks

Frankly, Trae Young makes a lot of sense for the Lakers. I'm not going to sit here and type "Trae Young sucks, the Lakers should avoid him." There are valid concerns, but Los Angeles would benefit from another genius-level creator who stretches the defense with his 3-point shooting and puts pressure on the rim as a quick, bubbly slasher.

The primary concern with Young in Los Angeles is his lack of off-ball experience. He has been one of the NBA's highest-usage stars since he stepped foot on the practice courts in Atlanta for the first time. The Dejounte Murray pairing did not work, and while that's more Murray's fault than Trae's fault, it will raise questions about the latter's ability to coexist with LeBron James.

Here's the thing, though. James is an all-time smart basketball player. He doesn't need to handle the rock every possession to make an impact. He can cut, connect, and operate in a secondary capacity when Young brings the ball up and initaites the offense. More than that, Young can surely do the same. He hasn't been asked to work off-ball in Atlanta, but Young is a high-gravity shooter with the live-dribble speed to torch closeouts and the passing eye to pick apart rotating defenses. It can work if he commits, and playing next to LeBron tends to get dudes to commit.

In the end, however, it's impossible to ignore the nature of Young's NBA stardom to date. He would face rather substantial adjustments in Los Angeles and the defense is always going to be an issue. The Lakers have an all-world backstop in Anthony Davis, and Young's pick-and-roll prowess would be a nice boon for Davis offensively. But, 6-foot, zero-defense guards tend to pose problems in the postseason, and Young has been at the center of a slowly decaying Hawks team for years now. He is the one constant through years of mediocrity — that 2021 conference finals run feels like a fluke, not a barometer for expectations.

The Lakers should call about Young. We know they will. That said, Los Angeles should be careful about placing all its eggs in the Trae Young basket. Once LeBron retires, it's fair to wonder if you want to be stuck with Young as the last standing pillar of a once-shiny colosseum.