Lakers Trade Pitch Lands Floor-Spacing Center Next to Anthony Davis

Getty Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis‘ stellar lay in the Team USA’s gold medal run in the 2024 Paris Olympics is a source of optimism that the Los Angeles Lakers will bounce back strong from the first-round exit last season.

It also showed a blueprint for optimizing Davis, who was a menacing defensive presence (1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals in just 16.6 minutes) in Team USA’s second unit next to Miami Heat‘s stretch big man Bam Adebayo.

A 3-for-1 trade where they could land a floor-spacing center next to Davis and open up roster spots for veteran free agents might do the trick for the Lakers.

Los Angeles Lakers receive: Nikola Vucevic

Chicago Bulls receive: D’Angelo Russell, Christian Wood, Cam Reddish, 2025 second-round pick (via LA Clippers)

With Vucevic generating zero trade market, along with disgruntled Zach LaVine, per the Chicago Sun-Times, the Lakers should pounce on the opportunity to add size and shooting to their frontcourt without giving up their two future first-round picks.

For the Bulls, shedding away Vucevic’s $41.5 million guaranteed money over the next two years while betting on the Clippers to get worse in the post-Paul George era to get an early second-round pick in the talented NBA Draft next year might motivate them to pull the trigger on this hypothetical Lakers package.

The Bulls might not get a better deal than this after failing to squeeze the Oklahoma City Thunder an extra draft capital in the Alex Caruso–Josh Giddey trade.

JJ Redick Wants Lakers to Add ‘Bruising Center’

New Lakers coach JJ Redick made it known he wants a big bruising man next to Davis to slide him to his preferred power forward position.

“You certainly have to look at what I think is actually a very good roster, a very balanced roster, Redick said in an interview with Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson on Sirius XM NBA Radio on July 12. “We’d love to, we tried, but we’d love to, at some point, get another five man, a big bruising five man.

“You look at the Western Conference right now, whether it’s Denver, Minnesota, OKC with what they added, certainly Memphis, they’re going to be back in the hunt, they added Zach Edey, certain matchups in the playoffs, you’re going to need a lot of size.”

While Vucevic is more of finesse than a bruiser, the former four-time All-Star center has held his own against Nikola Jokic, the measuring yardstick among all NBA big man and the Lakers’ biggest thorn over the last two seasons.

In 13 career games against Vucevic, Jokic averaged just 15.8 points, per Statmuse, which is five points lower than his career average and 11 points below his scoring norm last season.

Vucevic, a decent 34.1% career 3-point shooter, could also open up the paint for James and Davis. On the defensive side, Vucevic’s size could give the Lakers another rim protector and allow Davis to roam around and play at his best as a weakside defender.

Anthony Davis Co-Signs JJ Redick Hire

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Davis played a significant role in the Lakers hiring Redick.

“The Lakers have been committed to making All-NBA forward Anthony Davis a significant part of the conversation on the next head coach and want to make sure he’s aligned with how a new coach plans to feature him on offense and defense, sources said,” Wojnarowski reported on June 6.

Davis held conversations with Redick upon his hiring where the rookie head coach shared his vision.

Redick’s plan is to hand the keys to Davis as James winds up his historic career.

“[Redick] talked about me being the hub of the offense,” Davis said, per Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. “That will be different. We won’t know everything until [training] camp when we’re able to get on the floor. We want LeBron to shoot more 3’s. [Redick] wants to play fast and defend. From what he was telling me, I’m in total agreeance with what he has planned for us. … The goal at the end of the day is still to win a championship. You can’t skip steps.”

Acquiring a big man who can also shoot 3s such as Vucevic could help Redick follow through on his plan to make Davis the Lakers’ offensive hub.