A new trade pitch aimed at the Los Angeles Lakers and two other teams would send Kyle Kuzma and Jericho Sims to the Lakers, who would give up Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht and Jaden Hardy in an expansive, 10-player deal.
The proposal, created and posted on Fanspo‘s public trade machine, projects a modest one-win bump for the Lakers.
The premise of the theoretical deal starts with Jalen Duren, who reportedly turned down a long-term extension with the Detroit Pistons and gets rerouted to the Milwaukee Bucks in a sign-and-trade, with Tyler Herro and Myles Turner switching to the Pistons in return.
Lakers Weigh Kyle Kuzma, Jericho Sims Return in Trade Pitch
Kuzma arrived in Los Angeles as the No. 27 pick in 2017, made the All-Rookie First Team, and won a title with the Lakers’ 2020 NBA bubble squad before the 2021 Russell Westbrook deal sent him to Washington. A four-year, $90 million deal followed, and Kuzma topped 21 points a game across two Wizards seasons. Milwaukee acquired him in February 2025, and his scoring average last season sits at 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists on a career-best 49.2 percent shooting, in a reduced role. He carries an expiring $20.4 million salary, which is the actual asset for Los Angeles in this trade pitch.
Sims, a 2021 second-round pick out of Texas, spent four seasons finishing lobs and cleaning glass for the Knicks before Milwaukee claimed him. His career field-goal percentage sits at 74.2 percent, and he projects as a cheap, undersized third center behind Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney.
Going the other way, Vanderbilt remains one of the roster’s better point-of-attack defenders when healthy, drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2018 before stops in Denver, Minnesota, Utah and Los Angeles. His defensive activity numbers have held steady even as his outside shot, a career 29 percent from three, has not.
Knecht, the 2024 SEC Player of the Year at Tennessee and a Lakers first-round pick, saw his role collapse from 19.2 minutes as a rookie to just 10.2 last season, and his scoring average dropped to 4.2 points. Hardy, a bench spark plug who arrived from Washington this summer, shoots better than 38 percent from three for his career.
Pistons, Bucks Chase Different Timelines
Milwaukee’s proposed return centers on Duren, a 22-year-old who broke out last season to 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds a game and earned his first All-NBA selection on a four-year, $176 million sign-and-trade. The Bucks also absorb Ronald Holland II, Duncan Robinson and Tolu Smith as rebuild ballast, a package Fanspo projects for a three-win drop this season.
Detroit banks on continuity around Cade Cunningham instead. Herro, dealt to Milwaukee in the July Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, averages 19.5 points for his career, and Turner, who signed a three-year, $79.75 million deal with Milwaukee last summer, spaces the floor for Ausar Thompson and John Collins. A 2031 Miami first-round pick sweetens the return, but the deal leaves Detroit with only 12 standard contracts against the 14 required.
Los Angeles would apparently not win this wild deal. Kuzma’s expiring contract buys flexibility, and Sims fills a bench-center hole, but neither move upgrades a defense that already runs through Vanderbilt. Detroit walks away with two rotation starters and a first-round pick. Milwaukee walks away with the best long-term player on the board. The Lakers walk away with a Kuzma reunion and a trade chip to spend in February.
Lakers Trade Pitch Unloads Dalton Knecht in Wild 10-Player Kyle Kuzma Deal