high-powered offense led by Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/a>, Austin Reaves and LeBron James generating open shots at the 3-point line and at the rim. Add in Deandre Ayton playing terrific basketball as a complementary center and Rui Hachimura making jumper after jumper regardless of his rhythm, and the needs are squarely on the defensive end of the court.<\/p>\nBut in conversations with people inside the team\u2019s locker room and on its coaching staff, there\u2019s a recognition that the answers, both internal and external, aren\u2019t all that obvious.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, JJ Redick said clearly what it takes for a role player to star alongside Don\u010di\u0107, Reaves and James: \u201cDefend and shoot 3s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turns out most good teams are looking for those players.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere aren\u2019t a lot of \u2019em,\u201d said one Eastern Conference executive, who was granted anonymity so he could speak freely about the trade market. \u201cAnd everyone wants one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The New Orleans Pelicans, according to team and league sources, have signaled to interested teams that they\u2019re not entertaining Herbert Jones trades \u2014 at least not at any cost the Lakers can meet. L.A. could offer a single unprotected first-round pick and matching salary for Jones once he becomes trade-eligible in January. And for players like Jones, the asking price is usually a combination of good draft capital and young players.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also important to note that Joe Dumars and the current Pelicans front office signed Jones to a contract extension this past offseason.<\/p>\n
Sacramento\u2019s Keon Ellis, another player coveted by teams looking for on-ball defensive help, could certainly be traded by the deadline as he enters free agency this summer. League sources believe the current price tag on Ellis is a protected first-round pick.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s maybe the most divisive player in the league,\u201d one league source said, pointing to the near-universal approval Ellis has from rival scouts and the lack of on-court opportunities with the second-straight coaching staff.<\/p>\n
While the shooting part of the equation is there with Ellis (he\u2019s a career 42 percent shooter from 3), the defensive impact is where the gamble exists. Some people think of Ellis as a defender more suited for creating turnovers than he is at actually slowing down opponents.<\/p>\n
Others who aren\u2019t as high on him have concerns about his size and ability to defend bigger guards.<\/p>\n
Still, he seems like the kind of player the Lakers will consider this trade season \u2014 though they won\u2019t be alone in their pursuit.<\/p>\n
The Lakers had internal discussions about Andrew Wiggins earlier this summer and could revisit those if they decide to sacrifice cap space next summer to improve this season.<\/p>\n
Another player worth monitoring will be LA Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. He\u2019s already shown how valuable he can be next to Don\u010di\u0107 when they played together on the Dallas Mavericks, and with the Clippers\u2019 combination of losing and lack of draft assets, they\u2019d have to listen to reasonable offers.<\/p>\n
Some other players rival scouts and executives mentioned as potential fits included the Brooklyn Nets\u2019 Terrance Mann and the Charlotte Hornets\u2019 Josh Green. If the Chicago Bulls decided to move off of guard Ayo Dosunmu, he\u2019d fit the bill too \u2014 though the Bulls have held him in high esteem in the past and would probably seek a haul.<\/p>\n
The combination of the Lakers\u2019 tradeable picks (one first and one second) and the league-wide lack of interest in the team\u2019s recent draft picks puts the team in a bit of a bind.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a recognition that finding more defensive help on the perimeter is important for a lot of different reasons. The Lakers would like to take those assignments off Reaves\u2019 plate. They\u2019d like to better balance some lineups. And of course, they\u2019d like to give themselves better chances against speedy guards like Keyonte George, who lit up the Lakers for 34 points Thursday in L.A.\u2019s 143-135 win.<\/p>\n
How they actually get this done, though, is another question, one that doesn\u2019t have an easy answer. Supply is low. Demand, likely, will be high.<\/p>\n
And the Lakers only have so much they can give.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY \u2014 As the Los Angeles Lakers walked off the court after one quarter on Thursday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[1055,355,99],"class_list":["post-358557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}