The Los Angeles Lakers roster outlook through the first few games of the season has painted a fair picture of how things may shape up in the coming months leading to the trade deadline.
The roster is not bloated, but there is significant distance between the starting players and the deep rotational pieces. The Lakers currently have more than required players playing fringe minutes and may need to exchange that for a starting-level player.
According to Lakers Nation’s Trevor Lane, two players that should be up for trade consideration are Adou Theiro and rookie Cameron Carr.
“I think you got to be willing to do it, because what the Lakers need, is they don’t need Cameron Carr right now, they need Cameron Carr two years from now — they don’t need that version of Cameron Carr,” Lane said. “Adou Theiro, I think is more ready to contribute right now but you still need the two-years-from-now version of Adou Theiro right now.”
Both Carr and Theiro, 21 and 22 years old, respectively, have played a total of only 33 minutes this season. Looking at the current rotation for the Lakers, there aren’t any opportunities for their minutes to rise significantly unless a serious injury wave hits.
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Carr was selected at No. 24 by the Lakers who initially held the 25th pick but traded one spot early with the New York Knicks to land the Baylor product. He is an exciting talent but one that may not be suitable for an environment needing to win.
Just like Carr, Theiro will also need stable minutes to reach full potential. He impressed during the summer league and preseason which at some point put him in strong contention to be in the main rotation. However, that does not look like the case as he has only played three games so far this season.
But despite their age and non-starting level status, Lane doesn’t want the Lakers to low ball in getting a return for trading the two young players.
“Won’t even trade him for a guy that’s a rotation player,” Lane added. “This will be ‘we are getting our locked-in starter.’ You are not trading him for a 35-year-old, you’re trading him for a guy who is 25 who can be your locked-in starter with Luka and Austin for the next five plus years. That’s what we are talking about, you set a high bar but I think you have to be willing to listen.”
The Lakers could bank on Theiro and Carr’s ceiling to orchestrate a trade. They don’t have an abundance of draft assets and moving both players in a single deal could be the right approach.
Moving on From Theiro and Carr Could Be Beneficial Long Term
What exactly the Lakers want in terms of roster upgrade remains to be seen. However, Lane believes that the franchise should be compelled to maximize Doncic in his championship-caliber era.
“If the move comes in that will land you a long-term starter, then I think you got to really strongly consider it because right now you have a 27-year-old Luka Doncic, who is the best player in the world, and you don’t want to take that for granted,” Lane said.
There is still a marathon to run in the regular season but the Lakers look like they are at that level where one or two good pieces will make them strong contenders.
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