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There are reportedly several teams that may be on the Los Angeles Lakers’ radar for a potential deal prior to the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline.
Speaking Wednesday on his YouTube channel (beginning at the 29-minute mark of the video), Jovan Buha of The Athletic named a handful of teams that he considers to be the Lakers’ most likely trade partners:
Among the teams mentioned by Buha were the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls, although he noted that Chicago and L.A. have a “weird relationship.”
Buha also listed the Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers as possibilities, noting that there are “five to six teams” more likely to trade with the Lakers than others.
Dating back to the offseason, there has been a ton of speculation about the Lakers making a trade for a third star to play alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but nothing has materialized.
The last time the Lakers made that type of trade, they acquired Russell Westbrook from the Wizards in 2021, and he was gone in less than two seasons after struggling to fit with the team.
During a recent appearance on Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin noted that there are “far more doors closed than there have been in the past” for the Lakers in terms of trades because of the collective bargaining agreement.
The current CBA includes two tax aprons, and while the Lakers are only a first-apron team, they face restrictions such as not being able to make trades where they take on more salary than they send away.
While it is unclear who the Lakers may be targeting in a trade, some notable players to keep an eye on as trade candidates from the teams Buha mentioned include Walker Kessler, John Collins and Collin Sexton of the Jazz; Dennis Schröder, Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson of the Nets; Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević of the Bulls and Kyle Kuzma of the Wizards.
After starting the season 10-4, the Lakers lost three games in a row before rebounding to beat the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday and improve to 11-7.
Despite the up-and-down nature of their season, the Lakers are fifth in the Western Conference, which suggests they may try to get aggressive on the trade market to truly give themselves a chance to contend come playoff time.
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