Reviewing the Latest Trade Rumors Surrounding Lakers on the 2024 NBA Deadline Day: News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Speculations
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There are a number of different ways to read the Lakers’ apparent reluctance to chase the biggest names on the market. Maybe they don’t sense there’s an available player capable of bringing this group into championship form. Perhaps they don’t feel they need that big of a lift. Maybe L.A.’s discussions to this point have let the front office now it lacks the assets needed to get a deal of that magnitude done.
Any—or all—of those things could be true, but another option is the most fascinating of the bunch. Perhaps the Lakers sense something far more significant could be possible sooner rather than later.
According to CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter, one of the reasons the Lakers are reluctant to give up prime trade chips now is “the belief within the organization they could have a chance to acquire Donovan Mitchell this summer.” If L.A. waits to make a trade until the offseason, it would gain the ability to send out a total of three first-round picks (as opposed to the one it can shop around now).
Mitchell is clearly a different caliber of player from those who are currently available, and he’s exactly the kind of high-end shot-creator and scorer this perimeter group could really use. He’d be a great fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, helping to relieve some of their offensive burden while also benefitting from the defensive protection they provide.
Before Lakers fans rush out to buy a customized purple-and-gold Mitchell jersey, though, just know this belief feels incredibly optimistic—if not an outright pipe dream. There are no guarantees that Mitchell or the Cleveland Cavaliers will seek a trade this summer, and even if either side does, there are teams who would likely have interest in a trade with deeper collections of trade chips and the ability to blow L.A.’s offer out of the water.
Mitchell in L.A. is a fun idea and would be fantastic to watch, but it’s hard to envision it coming to fruition.
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