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The Los Angeles Lakers went into this offseason with lofty goals of bringing in another superstar to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis to foster another championship run, but they have completely struck out and watched Paul George, DeMar DeRozan and Klay Thompson all choose other destinations.
The Lakers haven’t been able to make a big trade either, and one insider recently said that a handful of the team’s players actually have “negative trade value.”
The Athletic’s Jovan Buha said some of the Lakers’ role players are viewed as net negatives.
“D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, they have somewhere between neutral to negative trade value across the league,” Buha said. “There are certain teams that have interest in maybe one of those guys, but there are very few if any teams that have interest in multiple of those guys, and that’s ultimately been why the Lakers have not been able to find a deal.”
Some Lakers role players have negative trade value around the league, per @jovanbuha
“D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, they have somewhere between neutral to negative trade value across the league. There are certain teams that have interest… pic.twitter.com/cuXINnIiua
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 17, 2024
This is unsurprising news, even though it hurts Lakers fans to hear it.
The idea of playing with LeBron and AD amid the bright lights of Los Angeles would presumably be enough to lure one star out west, but the reality is that the Lakers are out of viable trade assets.
If they do want to make a big move, it’s going to have to come in the form of a big risk or an unfavorable contract, such as acquiring Zach LaVine from the Chicago Bulls.
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