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HOUSTON, TEXAS – APRIL 24: Head coach JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers gives instruction during the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on April 24, 2026 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
As Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> head coach JJ Redick aptly said on Thursday, the time for roster fantasy is over \u2014 now it\u2019s time to build chemistry.<\/a><\/p>\n While the Lakers have most of their roster set, a few mandatory moves remain \u2014 chief among them trimming the squad from 16 players to 15. The following Lakers trade proposal accomplishes that while giving Redick and Luka Doncic a crucial addition that could significantly boost the team\u2019s win total this season.<\/p>\n Lakers Trade Idea Lands Derrick Jones Jr.<\/p>\n Lakers would receive: Derrick Jones Jr.<\/p>\n Mavericks<\/a> would receive: Dalton Knecht, Cash considerations<\/p>\n Clippers<\/a> would receive: Daniel Gafford<\/p>\n Bulls<\/a> would receive: Jake LaRavia, Cash considerations<\/p>\n The four-team framework allows the Lakers to send out two players while adding one, bringing their roster size to 15. More importantly, they reunite Doncic with a key core piece of the 2024 Mavericks team that reached the NBA<\/a> Finals.<\/p>\n Why the Lakers Do It<\/p>\n On paper, the Lakers don\u2019t have any proven 3-and-D wings they can count upon in the postseason. Sure, Quentin Grimes has the ability to play that role, but his defense is suspect; Matisse Thybulle offers perimeter defense, but his jumper is streaky. Ultimately, Los Angeles still lacks a battle-tested wing who can lock down an opponent\u2019s top scorer and reliably capitalize on wide-open passes from Doncic.<\/p>\n Jones Jr. is precisely that piece. A key contributor to the Mavericks\u2019 2024 Finals run, he provided crucial shot-making while serving as arguably the team\u2019s top wing defender. Across 22 playoff games, he posted 9.1 points and 3.1 rebounds per contest while knocking down a respectable 37% of his three-pointers. Most importantly, he anchored the defense by holding his own against elite scorers like Paul George, Jalen Williams and Anthony Edwards in the Western Conference playoffs.<\/p>\n It also helps that Jones Jr. is on an expiring $10.4M salary. If he thrives, Los Angeles gains a dynamic piece; if he doesn\u2019t, Rob Pelinka retains the flexibility to let his deal expire and redirect those resources elsewhere next offseason.<\/p>\n Lakers Weigh Roster Options<\/p>\n If the Lakers don\u2019t make a trade, they are reportedly expected to waive<\/a> either Dalton Knecht, Bronny James or Jaden Hardy to rime the roster size to 15.<\/p>\n \u201cMy read on the situation is that this is going to be a competition among Dalton Knecht, Bronny James and Jaden Hardy,\u201d Lakers insider Jovan Buha said on his podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo of those guys will make it. One of those guys won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Rob Pelinka himself has floated the idea of a 2-for-1 trade to trim to roster to 15 players.<\/p>\n \u201cBehind that evaluation of who\u2019s emerging in camp, there\u2019s also consolidation trades that could still be looked at \u2014 trading two guys out, bringing one in,\u201d Pelinka said<\/a> of finalizing the Lakers roster. \u201cThere\u2019s a number of ways that that could be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n The kick off their new campaign with a home game against the Golden State Warriors<\/a> on Oct. 21. Oddsmakers have set their over\/under wins total at 46.5.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sportswriter with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty HOUSTON, TEXAS – APRIL 24: Head coach JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers gives instruction during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-906074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906074","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=906074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}