The Los Angeles Lakers could get a third star next to LeBron James and Luka Doncic with this wild NBA trade idea.
Could the Los Angeles Lakers make a wild trade with the Utah Jazz to land Lauri Markkanen this summer?
It may not be the most likely outcome on the table for the Jazz star this summer, but in the eyes of Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz, the framework could be in place for the Lakers to bring Markkanen as a third star next to Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
In Swartz’ proposal, the Lakers land Markkanen from the Jazz in exchange for a bundle of four players, alongside one unprotected first-round pick.
Los Angeles Lakers receive: F Lauri Markkanen
Utah Jazz receive: F Rui Hachimura, G/F Dalton Knecht, PG Gabe Vincent, F Maxi Kleber, 2031 first-round pick (unprotected)
Alongside the trade proposal, Swartz offers his rationale as to why the Jazz would be inclined to make such a deal.
“A future unprotected pick from the Lakers in 2031 when James has (probably??) retired is valuable,” Swartz wrote. “Adding Knecht as a young core piece to a team that finished 22nd overall in three-point shooting is attractive as well. Hachimura (13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 41.3 percent shooting from three) has value and would likely be flipped to a contender, and the Jazz should be happy to add Vincent’s championship experience to a young point guard rotation that features Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier.”
And for Los Angeles, the logic is simple: add another co-star to their starting lineup to add size and positional versatility next to their existing core.
“The Lakers will always be on the hunt for stars yet are limited in trade assets after acquiring Luka Dončić at the deadline,” Swartz continued.” Markkanen is probably the best level of player Los Angeles can reasonably acquire and would be a strong third option behind Dončić and LeBron James. Adding a 7-footer who can play either forward position and fill short bursts as a stretch-5 gives the Lakers a ton of versatility with their lineups and helps an offense that ranked 12th out of 16 teams this postseason.”
