Getty Lakers potential trade target Wendell Carter Jr.
At this point, the names the Lakers could be pursuing in the NBA offseason trade market have gotten familiar. There’s Trae Young or Dejounte Murray, either of whom is expected to his the trade block in the coming weeks. There’s former Laker Brandon Ingram. The Cavaliers have a pair of potential trade candidates, too, with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. If the Jazz are amenable, Lauri Markkanen would be a dream target.
The stars will get the most notice. But there is another path many around the league expect the Lakers to weigh and perhaps even to pursue: reconfiguring the role players. It makes some sense. We’ve seen the slow death of the three-star project in the NBA, and for the Lakers to attempt to fight that by adding a guy like Young or Ingram does not make much sense.
Role players, though, do make sense. And one of the roles the Lakers badly need to fill is that of a big man who can play alongside Anthony Davis as a 4-5 combination and can play in place of Davis when he needs a break.
Asked for a role player who makes sense for the Lakers, one league executive did not hesitate: “Wendell Carter Jr. I think he’s someone they’d go after. He could be a beast as a backup on that team.”
Lakers Could Make Bargain Offer, Include 2024 Draft Pick
Carter Jr. has played well in his two stops in Chicago and Orlando, averaging 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in six seasons. He had his best year as a 3-point shooter last year, making 37.4% from the arc, finally developing the perimeter shot he’s always claimed to have. If that number proves replicable, Carter is all the more a fit for the Lakers.
The question is, what would it take for the Lakers to get Carter Jr. from the Magic? Last summer, Orlando had some interest in pursing Austin Reaves as a free agent, and the team would surely inquire about his availability in a potential deal. But the Lakers are not that interested in dealing Reaves, unless it is for a big-time star in return.
Carter is not a big-time star.
More realistic would be getting the Magic to gamble on a bounce-back season from veteran point guard Gabe Vincent, who signed with the Lakers last season, but could not get on the floor much because of a knee injury that limited him to 11 games.
Orlando has some choices to make at point guard, where Markelle Fultz is the starter. They could give second-year man Anthony Black a shot at the position, but they’d want a veteran on hand, too.
If the Lakers added the No. 17 pick in this draft, they might be able to persuade the Magic to send off Carter for Vincent.
Wendell Carter Jr. Held Back by Health
Carter is entering the third year of a team-friendly contract worth four years and $50 million total. It’s a descending deal that pays him $11.9 million this year and $10.9 next year.
If Carter is such a beast, you might wonder, why would the Magic trade him? Well, he can’t stay healthy. His entire career has been marked by injuries. He played just 55 games last year, and has played in 315 games since entering the league—an average of just 52.5 per year.
“That’s where you can get him for less than he might be worth,” the GM said. “He has just not been on the floor enough. He is a good player on both ends, but you have to pencil him in to miss 20 games, that’s just the reality.”