The Los Angeles Lakers recently acquired the services of Rui Hachimura. They sent Kendrick Nunn and 3 second-round picks the other way to the Washington Wizards. Lakers fans were finally delighted after waiting for such a long time for the franchise to make a solid trade. Hachimura is still a young player and has shown he has what it takes. In his debut against the San Antonio Spurs recently, Rui made 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1 assist in 22 minutes. At just 24, the Japanese player has all the time in the world to keep improving.
OFFICIAL: Welcome to the #LakeShow, @rui_8mura! pic.twitter.com/STh8mBsbpP
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 23, 2023
Despite just making a huge trade, it looks like the Lakers are not done in the market yet. They have been reported to be assessing other options right now after acquiring Rui. It should not be all that surprising that Rob Pelinka is aiming to strengthen their roster. The Lakers have missed the playoffs for two years in a row now. If they want to get a good finish to this season, a trade is imminent. As per reports, the Lakers are willing to offload two of their players to strengthen their team this year.
Can the Los Angeles Lakers make the playoffs this year?
As mentioned earlier, the Lakers have not had much success since winning the NBA title in 2020. At the start of the 2022-23 NBA season, they managed to secure Patrick Beverley‘s signature, hoping that he would be the answer to it all. However, that has not been the case. They have struggled on multiple occasions this year and their problems on the court are visible. In addition to that, an insider, Brian Windhorst, believes that the Lakers might aim to upgrade from Pat Bev, and could use Lonnie Walker IV in the deal too.
“I think it’s more likely for the Lakers to look for a [Patrick] Beverley flop than there is to be a blockbuster deal at this point.”
Brian Windhorst on what other moves the Lakers could make before the trade deadline#LakeShow pic.twitter.com/FTDHqGLiJe
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧’ 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) January 26, 2023
Beverley’s contract at the Lakers sees him earning $13,000,000 according to Spotrac. As Windhorst mentioned, Pat Bev will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
Although many might claim that his comments might be an exaggeration, it is hard to argue that Beverley is a long-term option for the Lakers. At 34, we are still unsure of how long he has left in the tank. However, that would put rumors of Bojan Bogdanovic’s arrival in LA to bed as well. He isn’t any younger too, but it certainly looks like the Lakers want a short-term option to help lead them to the playoffs this year.
LeBron James has been aging like a fine wine this year, averaging 29.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 7.0 assists. It only seems like a matter of time before he breaks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record to become the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer. With that said, he has stepped up in Anthony Davis’ absence due to injury as well. However, now that AD is back in action, the Lakers will be aiming to find a suitable option to help them both on the court.
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