The Los Angeles Lakers will play their first regular season game on October 22. If the Lakers don’t make a trade or sign a pending free agent before then, they’ll enter the year without making any meaningful moves in the offseason.
The Lakers could assess their team before making a trade, giving them a better outlook on what they need. They still have assets to make a trade with two first-round picks and more, so that’s an avenue they could explore.
Searching for their “top” trade targets during the regular season, Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report named Kyle Kuzma as a potential solution to their shortcomings.
LeBron James Could Put Pressure on Lakers Front Office for Kuzma
With LeBron James turning 40 on December 30, 2024, the Los Angeles Lakers likely don’t have much time left with the all-time great.
After his performance in the Paris Olympics, where he helped Team USA win a Gold Medal, the Lakers understand that James can still play at a high level and help a team win.
Because of that, the Lakers could look to add talent around him.
Christopher Kline of FanSided also named Kuzma a potential suitor for the Lakers in a proposed trade that would send him to Los Angeles. Kline added that James could put pressure on the front office to make a move, and the Washington Wizards could assist them.
“JJ Redick was the flashiest and least qualified name on the head coaching market, so of course that’s where the Lakers went. Dalton Knecht was a nice pickup through the draft, but counting on a rookie to reinvigorate your veteran rotation is often a fool’s errand. The Lakers need a lot more than Knecht Four can offer…
“At some point, LeBron is going to put enough pressure on the front office that a move is made,” Kline wrote on October 8. “One obvious trade partner would be the Washington Wizards, a rebuilding team with a ton of movable vets on affordable contracts.”
Kuzma’s Thought About Being Traded by Lakers
Kuzma was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a draft-day trade during the 2017 NBA draft by the Brooklyn Nets.
He spent the first four years of his career with the Lakers, helping them win a championship in 2020.
However, he was eventually traded to the Washington Wizards in a deal for Russell Westbrook.
A move that came as a surprise, Kuzma said he felt the Lakers “gave up” on him.
“For sure, 100 percent — I think — it was tough because I think they kind of gave up on me,” Kuzma said in an interview with All-Star in September.
“And they gave up on that team, too, a little too early — probably panicked a little bit. But in the NBA, things happen fast. You never know what’s gonna happen next, and it’s always a revolving door. So, we had a tough — a tough little stretch, but it happens.”
While he felt they didn’t give him and the team a fair chance, the Lakers could fix that and trade for him again this season.
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