The Los Angeles Lakers have been very bad this season and If LA continues to lose, they could be sellers at the trade deadline and names like Jeremy Lin, Steve Nash, Carlos Boozer, Wesley Johnson, Robert Sacre, Ed Davis or Ryan Kelly could be targets for teams and this comes as Goran Dragic, Rajon Rondo, Greg Monroe and Marc Gasol are expected to be targets to join Kobe Bryant in 2015 free agency.
The Lakers knew that this season would be a struggle, but they likely did not expect things to be this bad. Bryant has come back healthy from his injury and has looked good, but he is basically the only true scoring threat night in and night out. The team lost young prospect Julius Randle right away to an injury once the season started and now they are trying to develop and build in the right direction. Byron Scott is trying to put his mark on the team and moving forward they will try and set up to be players in the 2015 offseason.
Originally the team hoped to sign Kevin Love as a free agent, but he is with the Cavaliers and while he likely will hit the market anyway, he should stay in Cleveland. Love has said as much and that makes it likely that the Lakers will target Rajon Rondo, Gasol and Dragic on the market. Pro Basketball Talk reports that Dragic and Rondo will be main targets for the team, while LA and Boston have already previously discussed a Rondo deal, although talks did not ever get serious.
Dragic plans on testing the market and while the Suns are one of the favorites to keep him, it is widely expected that the Lakers and Rockets will also be interested. Obviously id the Lakers get Rondo they will not go after Dragic, but right now both options are on the table as potential point guards for Kobe Bryant. Lin has an expiring contract and will likely be gone or traded by next season, while Nash is likely to retire eventually. The team received an exception fort about $5 million with Nash injured.
While Nash obviously wouldn't be of any value on the court, NBA executives would argue that his contract is valuable for teams, as it is expiring and would offer relief if they made a move. While a trade straight up is unlikely, expect some teams to check in on Nash as part of a package, as that could help offset the cap numbers depending on what players are involved.
The Lakers have won just five games to start the season and while they are scoring over 100 points per game to ranked ninth in the league in scoring, they are ranked last in defense. The team has been getting some strong play from Bryant and that is promising, as many wondered if Bryant could continue to play at a high level with his injury. Bryant could be the key to all of this, as he has probably one or two good years left in him and that might be enough for the Lakers to turn around and contend again if they make a move.
