Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis recently told ESPN’s Shams Charania he believes they are just one to two pieces away from contending for another NBA championship.
Davis specifically said they need a big man next to him and pointed to their 2019-20 championship team that had Javale McGee as his running mate and Dwight Howard as backup. That team was also filled with perimeter defenders such as Rajon Rondo, Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Hoops Tonight’s Jason Timpf has another trade proposal that was in conjunction with his earlier idea of acquiring Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton from the Utah Jazz. Timpf’s next trade idea is to get Bruce Brown Jr. from the Toronto Raptors.
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Bruce Brown Jr., Jonathan Mogbo
Toronto Raptors receive: Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Cam Reddish, first-round pick (2029 or 2031)
Brown has been on the Lakers’ radar since he bolted the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets and signed with the Indiana Pacers. He was subsequently shipped to the Raptors as the salary ballast in the Pascal Siakam trade last season.
According to Timpf, his trade proposals will plug the Lakers’ holes: backup center (Kessler) who can also give the Lakers their desired two-bigs look, backup ball handler (Sexton) and a “higher floor option (Brown) at the two-guard spot.”
Bruce Brown Over Max Christie
Timpf said he believes Brown is a starting-caliber player in the NBA and could be the fifth-best player in the Lakers lineup.
While Max Christie has done a commendable job as the Lakers’ starting shooting guard, Timpf argued that it’s hard to rely on a young player like him in the playoffs though he thinks Christie “will obviously have the ability to pass [Brown] in the long run.”
The Lakers, he said, can keep Christie in the starting lineup “and keep him getting reps and just close games with Bruce if that’s what it came down to.”
Timpf views Austin [Reaves], Bruce Brown, Dorian Finney-Smith, LeBron James and Anthony Davis as a core five that “the Lakers could go down within a playoff series” because of Brown and Finney-Smith’s defensive switchability.
“Bruce and Dorian are guys that have the ability to function within a five-man group offensively while both being really useful defensive players at their position, bringing different abilities to the table,” Timpf said. “I think Bruce is better guarding guards while Dorian Finney-Smith is better at guarding forwards so it’s kind of like a natural pairing between the two of them but at the same time Dorian can slide his feet a little bit and Bruce can bang with the larger players on the floor as well.
And then you’ve got your Austin, LeBron and Anthony Davis and it depends on those three guys to carry things offensively but that was going to be the case regardless if your goal was to win the championship.”
Rob Pelinka Not Yielding to Lakers Stars’ Public Pressure
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps, the Lakers have not changed their approach to the NBA trade deadline despite the pressure from Davis and LeBron James, who was the first to point out the limitations of their current roster.
“Nah. That’s how our team is constructed,” James told reporters after their 116-102 blowout loss to their crosstown rivals Clippers on January 19. “We don’t have room for error — for much error.”
Windhorst and Bontemps reported on January 24 that the Lakers have shown “little sign of aggression” in their recent discussions with teams.
“The Lakers have shown a reticence to put their future first-round picks into trades in recent seasons, and there’s no indication that position has shifted,” Windhorst and Bontemps wrote.
On the January 24 episode of the “NBA Today,” Windhorst described the Lakers stars’ public comments as a “coordinated effort to apply pressure to Rob Pelinka.” But as Windhorst noted, this has been happening over the last few seasons and as always the case, Pelinka “hasn’t yielded to this public pressure.”
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Lakers Get Champ Swingman Upgrade Over Max Christie in Proposed Trade