Los Angeles Lakers: Should Chris Paul be an offseason trade target?

Will Chris Paul be an offseason target for the Los Angeles Lakers?

Coming off an NBA championship, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have bought some time and patience. While there will be hope that the Lakers will be able to repeat as champions in 2021, Los Angeles likely won’t enter next season as “overwhelming” favorites.

(Good luck selling that to their fans, however).

With that said, it would be surprising if the Lakers entered next season with the same roster that they have at the moment. Los Angeles will almost certainly improve the roster and, if nothing else, will explore the trade market to do so.

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One name that has already been linked to the defending champions is Chris Paul, a name that shouldn’t be surprising by any means of the imagination. Paul is good friends with LeBron James and could find his way to the trade block this offseason after the Oklahoma City Thunder moved on from Billy Donovan. The move, at the very least, indicates that the team could be beginning some sort of rebuild.

Whether or not that will include Paul remains to be seen. It would be strange if the Thunder didn’t at the very least test his value on the trade market.

The fit is interesting as well. I’m not sure there isn’t a team in which Paul wouldn’t fit. He’s a pure pass-first point guard that has the ability to score when the opportunity presents itself. Even though he’s 35 years old, Paul is still one of the best overall point guards in the league and still an elite defender.

What he lacks in size (at 6-foot-1), he more than makes up in toughness and competitiveness. After being traded to Oklahoma City (in a blockbuster deal centered around Russell Westbrook), Paul averaged 18 points, seven assists, and five rebounds per game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from 3-point range.

I don’t think the fit should be much of a question. As it pertains to what the Lakers would have to give up and how open the Thunder would be to accepting what Los Angeles has to offer should be in question.

In almost any trade that the Lakers make for any big-name player, it would almost definitely have to begin with Kyle Kuzma. After that, it gets complicated. The Lakers could theoretically use Danny Green’s expiring contract as an asset too, along with a pick or two. Depending on what Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Avery Bradley decide to do regarding their player options, they can’t be included in any deals.

Perhaps they could be included if they agree to a sign-and-trade, but that’s under the assumption that the Thunder would be interested in acquiring any of those players.

If a bidding war erupts for Chris Paul, the Lakers would almost definitely be outbid (unless, of course, there’s this robust trade market for Kuzma that is unforeseen).

A trio of Chris Paul, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis seems like a pipe dream for the Los Angeles Lakers at this point, but there’s no question it’s a trade that the team should explore. Especially considering the Golden State Warriors will likely be back in contention next season, the LA Clippers will be back and with a chip on their shoulder, the Denver Nuggets will be another year of development better, and that’s not to mention the strides that many teams are making in the Eastern Conference (including the return of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets).

The Los Angeles Lakers will make a move to improve its roster. Will their primary offseason target be Chris Paul?