which won\u2019t be easy<\/a>.<\/p>\nLaw Murray<\/p>\n
Deandre Ayton to Nets<\/p>\n
The conversation about the Lakers center situation has made it quite clear that Los Angeles would ideally move on from Ayton, the only player on the team that started more than 70 games. Good luck with that maneuver. The possibility of Ayton leaving of his own accord has been less discussed.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a reason Ayton\u2019s value is so maligned. When he looks bad, he can look be quite bad, from an inconsistent motor to a pronounced struggle to catch the ball. Edward Scissorhands is a more reliable interior receiver. But Ayton still converted 67.1 percent of his field goals while averaging 8.0 rebounds per game. With Nic Claxton traded in the deal that brought Randle in, Brooklyn could add another center to go with Day\u2019Ron Sharpe. Ayton is right there.<\/p>\n
D\u2019Angelo Russell to Rockets<\/p>\n
Russell has a player option worth nearly $6 million, and you might not even realize that he finished last season on Washington\u2019s roster. I\u2019d expect Russell to opt in and then get his wings. That would allow a team such as Houston to snap Russell up on a veterans\u2019 minimum.<\/p>\n
Russell might be down to his last legs as an NBA player, after Russell flaming out of Dallas\u2019 rotation. That was an especially bad look given the horrible point guard play the Mavericks had all of last season. Houston could use another point guard option with Fred VanVleet returning from a torn ACL, and Russell can either show that he still has something left, or that\u2019ll be it for him even though he is only 30 years old.<\/p>\n
Eric Nehm<\/p>\n
Rui Hachimura to the Spurs<\/p>\n
The Spurs will have access to the non-taxpayer midlevel exception (roughly $15 million) this offseason. Ultimately, the Lakers could be comfortable matching that salary to retain Hachimura, assuming he wants to be in L.A. San Antonio might want to force the Lakers to do just that.<\/p>\n
San Antonio clearly thought there was some value in starting a stretch four next to Victor Wembanyama, as they started Harrison Barnes for the first 47 games of this season before changing to a lineup that featured another guard. Hachimura started in 41 of his 68 games with the Lakers this season and knocked down 44.3 percent from 3 on his way to 11.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. With his ability to stretch the floor on offense and switch on defense, Hachimura would provide more size and give the Spurs even more lineup options, while not requiring a lot of shots to be useful.<\/p>\n
Khris Middleton to the Heat<\/p>\n
This one feels pretty simple. Middleton won a championship in Milwaukee with Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021 and he was the man that the Bucks relied upon in the clutch. He does not move as well as he once did after multiple surgeries, so he would not be as impactful as he was during his time in Milwaukee. But there is no denying his chemistry with Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n
How the Heat pulled off a heist for Giannis<\/p>\n
Esfandiar Baraheni<\/p>\n
As the Heat scour the league for players to fill out their roster next to Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, Middleton could provide scoring, playmaking and creation, while also providing great size at his position. He is not able to stay in front of quicker players like he used to on defense, but he remains incredibly smart and understands how to play the game. Let\u2019s get the band back together.<\/p>\n
Joe Vardon<\/p>\n
LeBron James to the Lakers<\/p>\n
I understand this may raise a few eyebrows, given my place of residence and shared history with the player. I wouldn\u2019t, like, kick the neighbor\u2019s dog if he wound up in Cleveland. But I don\u2019t think it will happen \u2014 nor do I think it would be a good fit.<\/p>\n
I want to see him finish his career with the Lakers, because, primarily, he wants to live in Los Angeles. The Lakers can pay him way more than the Cavs can, which I think would be a problem in Cleveland. How do you think LeBron would feel about walking into the locker room, looking around, and realizing he is barely outearning Craig Porter Jr. and being behind Sam Merrill on the payroll?<\/p>\n
I also want to see LeBron play a full season with Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Austin Reaves running the offense. I get it: The Lakers feel far away from being able to compete with Oklahoma City or San Antonio, so perhaps one more championship is not in the cards. But his final season, whenever and wherever that is, will be a circus, and the Lakers as an organization can handle it. I don\u2019t want to watch LeBron be miserable living away from home for his final season, either. So if he is putting off retirement, I hope it\u2019s to return to the Lakers.<\/p>\n
Dean Wade to the Lakers<\/p>\n
Wade is a good fit for the Lakers, who are defensively challenged. He was most comfortable in Cleveland when he didn\u2019t have to shoot. He wouldn\u2019t have to shoot often on a team with Luka, Reaves and (maybe) LeBron. Wade can guard almost any position, and the Cavs often used him to guard the other team\u2019s best scorer.<\/p>\n
By rule, the Cavs can pay Wade whatever they\u2019d like because they have his Bird rights\u00a0 \u2014 they would just go even further beyond the aprons. Assuming they\u2019re trying not to do that and he leaves, Wade can go be the Lakers\u2019 defensive anchor and completely avoid the spotlight on offense. He can hit open shots, making him a nice fit. In an underwhelming free-agent class, perhaps you weren\u2019t counting on Wade\u2019s name being on this list. But I\u2019d like to see him in L.A.<\/p>\n
Mike Vorkunov<\/p>\n
Robert Williams III to the Spurs<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a deep cut, but I would love to see the Spurs add size and skill along the frontline next to Wembanyama. They did some of that in the draft, but it seems hard to fathom that late-first-round picks could help a title contender right away.<\/p>\n
Williams, if healthy, could be a good player next to Wemby or serve as a capable backup. The NBA Finals made it clear that the Spurs need to add some size, and Williams would be an interesting answer.<\/p>\n
Norm Powell to the Pistons<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s make it happen<\/a>. The Pistons sure seem like they\u2019re trying to get a second big playmaker alongside Cade Cunningham. Powell can fill that role. It might be a rough transition from winters in Miami to winters in Detroit, but his skills would be valuable there.<\/p>\nHe could take some of the burden off Cunningham. The Pistons are talented enough and have won enough in the regular season that they should be thinking about how they can take the next step in the playoffs. They\u2019ll need enough scoring to keep up with the Knicks and Celtics. Powell would help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Free agency used to be a seismic event on the NBA calendar. With the rise of \u201cpre-agency,\u201d resulting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-765924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}