Lakers trade season primer: What I’m hearing about Los Angeles’ plans

December 15 marked the unofficial start of the NBA’s trade season.

As of Sunday, many free agents signed during the 2024 offseason became eligible to be traded. The league has already seen two trades — Thomas Bryant from Miami to Indiana and Dennis Schröder from Brooklyn to Golden State — to bolster playoff hopes that have been decimated by injuries at certain positions.

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to be one of the more active buyers heading into the Feb. 6 trade deadline as they try to maximize the final seasons of the LeBron James-Anthony Davis partnership.

Los Angeles is currently 14-12, tied for ninth in the Western Conference and 22nd in net rating. The Lakers clearly need to make several upgrades to have a chance to realize the championship ambitions vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka and coach JJ Redick laid out at the beginning of the season.

But as their quiet 2024 trade deadline and offseason showed, the Lakers’ activity doesn’t always translate into action. In the coming weeks, they need to be more open to using their draft capital to significantly improve their roster.

Let’s dive into some questions and topics that will dominate discussions ahead of the deadline.

Are the Lakers likely to make a move?

Yes. At least that’s the operating assumption around the league. However, the size of the move is unclear given the uncertainty of how much draft capital the Lakers are willing to spend in a trade, according to team and league sources.

It’s worth noting that many expected the Lakers to make a move last season prior to the trade deadline, and they were applauded. The closest they came was talks with Atlanta for Dejounte Murray, although Atlanta’s insistence that Austin Reaves be included in the trade was a problem at the time for the Lakers, who Athletics previously reported.

Pelinka said at media day that he wanted to evaluate the team after 30 games. The Lakers play their 30th game of the season on Christmas Day in Golden State. The Lakers’ recent skid — they’ve lost eight of 12 games — hasn’t exactly been a ringing endorsement for investing in this group. The results in the next few weeks will determine how much pressure there is on the front office to upgrade this roster.

As has become the recent trend across the league, there are expected to be more buyers than sellers in the trade market. That can drive up prices from sellers for quality starters and high-level role players, as it did last trade deadline. That said, the Warriors giving up three second-round picks for Schröder, who is statistically having a career year, could mean a shift toward the caliber of player that goes for multiple second-round picks rather than a first-round pick, according to league sources.

Who are realistic trade targets?

Similar to last season, the Lakers believe they have three positional needs at the trade deadline:

• A tough, physical, defensive-minded center.
• A big 3-and-D wing that complements Davis and James as a starter/closer.
• A big, quick, athletic guard with point-of-attack defensive ability.

And similar to last season, it will be difficult to address all three needs in one move — and without giving up both their 2029 and 2031 first-round picks.

The most lively name in league circles that has been linked to the Lakers dating back to the summer is Washington Wizards center Jonas Valančiūnas ($9.9 million in salary this season). He checks the box of a big, bruising, physical center, though his defensive mobility is limited and he can be targeted on that end (as the Lakers did twice in high-stakes games to end the 2023-24 regular season and in Play -In games).

Valančiūnas is averaging 12.0 points (55.8 percent shooting), 7.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 19.7 minutes per game. match with the Wizards. He has started 833 of his 880 career games, but has started just six of 24 games for the Wizards this season.

Valančiūnas was on James’ list of players he would be willing to trade for during the offseason, which Athletics reported over the summer, indicating how highly James regarded him as a conceivable fit. Soon after, Redick mentioned the Lakers’ need for a brutal, physical big man. Davis has long wanted more reliable center help next to him in the frontcourt.

Currently in the Play-In mix in the East, the Brooklyn Nets are looking to trade parts of their core to prioritize their future. After trading Schröder, Brooklyn is expected to make available wings Cam Johnson ($22.5 million, but with a likely cap hit of $27 million) and Dorian Finney-Smith ($14.9 million) — and much sooner than the deadline on the 6 .February. Both have been tied to the Lakers for several months. The Lakers have been interested in Finney-Smith for at least a few years.

Seam Athletics previously reported that a Lakers move is more likely later in January or early February leading into the deadline, giving Los Angeles more time to evaluate the lineup and see if injured players like Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood can close some of the gaps in rotation. But it appears that if the Lakers make a move on the former end, trading Valančiūnas, Johnson and/or Finney-Smith would be the most realistic exceptions.

Other names that have come up with team and league personnel over the past few weeks include Utah’s Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton, Toronto’s Bruce Brown Jr., Portland’s Jerami Grant and Robert Williams III and Washington’s Kyle Kuzma. The Lakers aren’t expected to be heavily in the mix for Miami’s Jimmy Butler, New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram or Chicago’s Zach LaVine.

The Lakers have a recent history of surreptitiously navigating the trade market. It cannot be ruled out that they make a trade for a player and/or with a team that no one sees coming.

Which Lakers players are eligible to be traded?

The entire 15-man roster is eligible to be traded this season.

James became eligible to be traded on December 15th. He is one of two players in the NBA with a no-trade clause, meaning he is responsible for his future.

Max Christie becomes eligible to be traded on January 15th. Otherwise, the other 13 players can be traded immediately.

Are any players untouchable?

Two players who almost certainly won’t be traded, barring them from asking out of Los Angeles, are Davis ($43.2 million) and James ($48.7 million).

Despite the recent surge by certain media and fans to blow up the roster, the Lakers are not currently considering dealing any of the superstars, according to team and league sources. They want to strengthen their supporting cast and continue to build around Davis and James.

Of course, Bronny James ($1.2 million) would not be included in a trade that does not include LeBron, team and league sources said Athletics.

The Lakers continue to have a high bar for trading Reaves ($13 million) given his importance as the third option and his team-friendly contract (he makes less than $27 million combined over the next two seasons before likely opting out of 2026). Similarly, rookie Dalton Knecht ($3.8 million) and Max Christie ($7.1 million) are two players the Lakers view as long-term core pieces.

Which players are likely to be traded?

The Lakers have four mid-sized contracts — D’Angelo Russell ($18.7 million), Rui Hachimura ($17.0 million), Gabe Vincent ($11 million) and Vanderbilt ($10.7 million) — that will be the foundation of any trade that requires double digit starting salary.

Redick and Pelinka have both spoken highly of Hachimura, often suggesting that they see him as a long-term piece and that he would be the least likely to be moved. The Lakers tried to trade Russell ahead of the 2024 trade deadline and last season after he picked up his player option, but couldn’t find any suitors. Vincent has played better of late, but has underwhelmed offensively as the Lakers’ Schröder replacement. Vanderbilt is currently out with fluid in his left knee after missing the start of the season due to offseason surgeries on both feet.

The Lakers did not pick up the third-year option on Jalen Hood-Schifino ($3.9 million), which is rare for a player drafted as high as the Lakers selected him in 2023 (No. 17). That sets him up as an expiring contract and a potential low-risk play for an opposing front office.

There’s also a chance the Lakers use a smaller contract like Wood ($3 million), Cam Reddish ($2.5 million) or Maxwell Lewis ($1.9 million) as a matching salary in a deal or to to clear a list space.

What do teams want from the Lakers?

The same things they wanted last season: Reaves and first-round picks.

The Lakers have three first-round picks they can trade individually: 2029, 2030, or 2031. If they want to use more than one first-round pick, they can trade the 2029 and 2031 first-round picks (and not the 2030 first ). .

They also have multiple years of swap rights (2026, 2028 and 2030, depending on how they use the 2029 and 2031 first round picks) and five second round picks to trade (2025, 2027, 2030, 2031 and the LA Clippers’ 2025 second round choice). The Lakers will likely offer a pick swap or second(s) in lieu of one of their picks in the negotiations.

Rival teams will surely ask for Knecht and Christie, but again, these are two players the Lakers will prioritize keeping. Teams are also likely to sniff James and Davis to see if they can try to pry them away from Los Angeles with an enticing offer of picks and young talent.

What are the Lakers’ financial constraints and limitations?

The Lakers have a full roster of 15 players with guaranteed contracts, meaning they can’t take back more players than they send out in a trade. If they make a multi-player deal and temporarily drop below 14 players, they will have two weeks to return to the league minimum of 14 players.

Los Angeles also can’t take back more salary than it sends out, which is a limiting factor in any potential deal. Depending on the valuation, the Lakers are between $30,000 to $45,000 under the second stage of the agreementwhich gives them some wiggle room financially. They will not go over the second apron.

(Top photo of Rob Pelinka and Anthony Davis: Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images)