NBA: Who else should Los Angeles Lakers move to save their season?

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NBA: Who else should Los Angeles Lakers move to save their season?

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January 1, 2022

Los Angeles Lakers traded Rajon Rondo to Cleveland Cavaliers, here is the list of other LA stars that the Lakers need to offload to save this season.

Los Angeles Lakers tried to build a superteam with the addition of Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony to the team. They also signed many veteran free agents on a minimum contract, allowing them the flexibility in the upcoming season.

After the mega trade, the Lakers were title favorites for many bookies, but the team’s on-court production was quite opposite of people’s expectations. Yes offensively, the team is performing well – thanks to AD and LBJ, but new additions don’t have many contributions to it.

Los Angeles Lakers are such an organization, which demands final results altogether, perform, or get-out. The franchise waited for 35+ games to analyze the situation and now seems to be making some moves to save their season before the trade deadline.

Lakers have already traded fringe player Rajon Rondo to Cleveland Cavaliers for Denzel Valentine as per ESPN reports. Lakers are expected to waive Valentine and create a free roster spot for any new addition. Let us check other Lakers players who might move from Los Angeles Lakers.

Center DeAndre Jordan

Los Angeles Lakers is a very demanding franchise as said before. DeAndre Jordan was near franchise player for city rivals, the Clippers. But Jordan’s performance certainly has gone south since his move from California.

In this high demanding franchise, players might feel the pressure and underperform, but Jordan’s current stats (4.5 points and 5.7 rebounds) are far below expectations. He was supposed to be the Rim guard for the team. It will allow some free movement to Anthony Davis at both ends. But Jordan failed to live up to the expectations and might be traded (if anyone is interested) before the window closes.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Kent Bazemore

Kent Bazemore was a former Lakers player for season 2014. He actually had the best scoring season with the Lakers, averaging career-high 13 points per game. But his reunion with the team is not so fruitful for either of the parties.

Kent Bazemore was often the trade chip for many teams before, He only had stable playing time with the Hawks between 2015-19 seasons, but then he was on move again, playing for a season in different franchises. His acquisition was questionable even at the very beginning of the season, while his current production of 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds have proved them right.

Avery Bradley

Bradley was waived by the Warriors and signed by the Lakers at the start of the season. Golden State Warriors had better players in their roster for the defensive role and the Lakers were in search of a perimeter defender. The move seemed to be perfect for the Lakers.

But Bradley couldn’t fit into the current Lakers system. Lakers’ defensive stats suggest that the team is allowing far too many (112) points to the opponents. Even though it can’t be completely blamed on Bradley alone, he still is not a prime defender Lakers were hoping for when they signed him.

He won an NBA Championship in 2020 with the Lakers but had the support of other young players in the defense. This Lakers team is much (much) older now. Bradley has to do most of the defensive duties than waiting for other players to step up.

With the emergence of Stanley Johnson, the current team seems better at the defensive end. This might force the Lakers to move Bradley.