Los Angeles Lakers should be aggressive at deadline after trade for Rui Hachimura
After acquiring Rui Hachimura from the Washington Wizards, the Los Angeles Lakers must continue to be aggressive at the NAB Trade Deadline.
After everything that the Los Angeles Lakers have had to battle through during the first half of the season, they are only a handful of games (2.5) out of the fifth seed in the conference. Not to say that the fifth seed should be the goal for the Lakers, but it just goes to show how one hot streak could get them right back into the thick of things in the conference.
And in a wide-open Western Conference, perhaps the Lakers are just a couple of trade deadline moves away from making their season all the more interesting. And maybe they’ve already completed the first step on that front.
According to reports, the Lakers have finalized a deal for Rui Hachimura in which they are sending Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks to Washington. It’s a great first move for the Lakers that should allow them to be aggressive to try and make another bigger move as we inch closer and closer to the NBA Trade Deadline.
The Los Angeles Lakers have a golden opportunity at the NBA Trade Deadline
The move for Hachimura is a good start for the Lakers. But it’s not the only move that the Lakers should make. It should just be the start. After adding Hachimura, the Lakers have a real chance to improve the roster ahead of the stretch run.
The Lakers still could move their two trade-eligible future first-round picks and have Russell Westbrook’s contract they could use as well. But the addition of Hachimura gives the Lakers something to fall back on. That said, it should not be viewed as THE move that the Lakers needed to make at the deadline.
But Hachimura does give the Lakers big more wiggle room regarding who they could/should target at the deadline. Now that the Lakers have added a versatile wing/big, likely someone they could play next to Anthony Daivs, Los Angeles could focus on adding a point guard or more shooting if they’d like.
Somehow, someway, the Lakers are in a much better situation than they were in just a few hours ago. With still plenty of regular season ahead of them, if they make another significant move at the deadline, the Lakers could emerge as one of the more interesting teams in the Western Conference down the stretch.
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It needs to just be a start, but what a move for the Lakers.