The Lakers acquired Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney this offseason after trading Deandre Ayton, but reportedly continue to seek frontcourt help.
One Lakers trade idea doing the rounds would see the team send Jaden Hardy to the New York Knicks for Jeremy Sochan, who is an unrestricted free agent. The deal would see the Lakers sign Sochan to a vet minimum deal as part of a sign-and-trade.
Lakers Trade Idea Swaps Jaden Hardy
Lakers would receive: Jeremy Sochan (sign-and-trade)
Knicks would receive: Jaden Hardy
With 16 players currently signed to the roster, the Lakers must offload a few players before the start of the 2026-27 season. Jaden Hardy has emerged as an obvious candidate due to the Lakers’ backcourt logjam, which includes Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, Bronny James and rookie Cameron Carr.
Sochan played limited minutes for the New York Knicks during their NBA championship run, with veteran bigs Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson sharing all the workload at the five spot. However, there’s no doubt Sochan, a former top-10 pick, still has a lot to offer a team with his defensive versatility and high motor. On the Lakers, he could be the perfect third or even second-string big man, sharing minutes with Kessler and Looney, the latter of whom is a similar energy guy as well.
It’s worth noting that the Lakers had serious interest in acquiring Sochan earlier this year when the Spurs dangled their former lottery pick in trade talks. Ultimately, the Spurs waived Sochan, who preferred to sign with the Knicks on a vet minimum. Now that he’s an unrestricted free agent, it’s a good chance for the Lakers to grab him.
Lakers Prefer Keeping Bronny James
Jaden Hardy, who was acquired as part of the Deandre Ayton trade, becomes an obvious candidate to be moved again due to the Bronny James factor. The Lakers are reportedly very invested in the future of LeBron James‘ son, and don’t plan to move him unless it’s for a player of significant value.
“The Lakers are more than happy to keep Bronny James,” Cal Post’s Khobi Price said earlier this week, shutting down talks of the Lakers waiving Bronny James.
They drafted him in the second round two years ago. They developed him. They’re a fan of him. He has a lot of people who like him within the building. It’s not going to be one of those situations where they’re just going to send Bronny to wherever LeBron goes. It would take something real for the Lakers to want to trade him.”
Talk of the Lakers possibly moving Bronny picked up steam when the purple and gold franchise signed Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle to their 15th and 16th roster spots. The Lakers are reportedly trying to move Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht to free up roster spots but haven’t found any takers just yet.
Lakers Proposed to Trade Jaden Hardy for Knicks NBA Champion