3 former players teams should trade for instead of Brandon Ingram

The Los Angeles Lakers should not trade for Brandon Ingram.

There is certainly an allure to targeting a big name like Ingram. He can score in bunches, he made an All-Star team, and his name is in trade rumors all the time. The Lakers certainly don’t have an answer at small forward, regardless of whether Rui Hachimura can look good for a game or two. Ingram seems to step right into that spot, and this front office has loved bringing back former Lakers.

Still, the Lakers have their stars figured out; Adding another would be exciting, but it’s not what this team needs most. Where they have struggled this season is building a rotation around their two stars. Last year they had the same problem, but LeBron James and Anthony Davis were so good they still carried this roster to the playoffs. This time LeBron has taken a step back and Davis has been too inconsistent and the whole team is struggling.

What the Lakers need to do is find the right upgrades for the rest of the rotation to best maximize their stars. The template may be the Dallas Mavericks, who added strong rotation players in Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington at the trade deadline last season and rode those changes to the NBA Finals.

If the Lakers want to bring back a former player, Brandon Ingram is not the answer. Instead, let’s look at three players who might make more sense.

No. 1: Lakers should trade for Dennis Schroder

The point guard position for the Lakers this season has been a disaster. D’Angelo Russell has started 10 games at the position, but he’s been his usual inconsistent self; an underrated passer and overrated scorer and a wildly erratic shooter who brings nothing on the defensive end. There are several seasons of evidence that he is not the answer.

Gabe Vincent was signed in the summer of 2023 to share the load, but last season was a lost year due to injury and he has not been effective this season. 208 players have logged at least 400 minutes this season, and Vincent’s true shooting percentage of 43.2 percent is died last208. Austin Reaves has started at times, but he is much better when he can play off another ball handler.

The Lakers could go the route of just letting LeBron James run the offense, but that doesn’t solve the problem of who defends opposing guards, and it’s asking a lot from a player about to turn 40 who clearly needs to lighten his load, while on the field. That points to the massive need for a point guard upgrade.

Enter Dennis Schroder, who could return to the Lakers for the third time in his career. The 31-year-old is having an extremely strong season for the Brooklyn Nets that is more than expected, averaging 18.6 points and 6.5 assists per game. He is shooting 38.5 percent from deep, his best season since playing with Chris Paul on the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019-20.

The Brooklyn Nets are actively shopping their veterans as they look to turn into a complete tank, and Schroder has been specifically mentioned as a trade possibility. Schroder is only making $13 million this season on an expiring deal, so it’s very possible for the Lakers to match his salary if they add the right draft pick. They should reach out to the Nets and see if there is a deal to be made.

No. 2: Lakers should trade for Larry Nance Jr.

Another area where the Lakers struggle is at the backup center position, where injuries and ineffectiveness continue to plague the motley crew of Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood and Christian Koloko. In their recent overtime thriller against the Atlanta Hawks, two-way center Armel Traore was forced to play four minutes to spell Anthony Davis, and the Lakers lost those four minutes by seven points — ultimately losing by just two to a Trae Young 3-pointer.

Hayes or Wood would make a better impact than Traore, but the Lakers need an upgrade overall. Ideally, that player could stretch the floor enough to allow Davis to play a handful of minutes at power forward; Such “twin towers” looks would be menacing defensively and make Davis happy in the regular season.

The Lakers also don’t have to look far from the painful loss in Atlanta to find the answer: he was sitting on the opponent’s bench. Larry Nance Jr. began his career with the Lakers before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, teaming up with LeBron James for his final run to the NBA Finals. Nance has bounced around the league since, playing in Portland, New Orleans and this season in Atlanta.

Nance is a solid defender, both as a secondary rim protector and switch defender. Offensively, he’s a reliable 3-point shooter, so he’s able to space the court for various lineups at both the 4 and 5. He could thrive for the Lakers next to LeBron James as a backup 5 and potentially even for some minutes along with Davis.

On an $11.2 million expiring contract and out of Atlanta’s rotation, he seems like an obvious trade candidate, though the Hawks are quietly toyed with his availability. The Lakers can explore what it looks like to bring back this versatile big man.

No. 3: The Lakers should trade for Svi Mykhailuk

Admittedly, it is a deep move. The casual basketball fan may not even know who Svi Mykhailiuk is, and even committed fans may not know that he began his career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 27-year-old Ukrainian wing Mykhailiuk was drafted by the Lakers with the 47th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, and he played 39 games with the team as a rookie before the Lakers sent him and a draft pick to the Detroit Pistons for Reggie Bullock. Mykhailiuk has bounced around the league since then, playing for Detroit, Oklahoma City, Toronto, New York, Charlotte and last season won a championship with the Boston Celtics. This year he signed with the Utah Jazz and has appeared in six games.

The elite skill Mykhailiuk brings to the table is shooting volume; he’s not necessarily an elite shooter in terms of accuracy, but he’s comfortable getting shots up at high volume. When he hits those shots, it can blow up a game. When he’s not, he at least makes room for his teammates.

There isn’t much else the seven-year vet brings to the table, but rookie Dalton Knecht has shown how much shooting can help this Lakers team, and they have precious few options besides Knecht. Rui Hachimura is a streaky shooter who is currently hitting his shots, but otherwise every rotation player with at least 50 attempts is shooting 35.9 percent or worse. Another sharpener worked in would work wonders.

The Utah Jazz aren’t trying to win games, and Mykhailiuk is likely available for a song. Offloading one of their contract deadweights like Christian Wood with another to bring back Mykhailiuk would address a need and not get in the way of other trades.

Whether it’s Mykhailiuk, Nance or Schroder, a number of former Lakers players would help them this season. Will the Lakers bring any of them back in a trade?