{"id":115116,"date":"2024-12-31T08:30:29","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T13:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=115116"},"modified":"2024-12-31T14:38:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T19:38:38","slug":"lakers-rumors-next-steps-finney-smith-trade-walker-kessler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/31\/lakers-rumors-next-steps-finney-smith-trade-walker-kessler\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Rumors: Next Steps After Finney-Smith Trade Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The <\/span>Los Angeles Lakers<\/span><\/a> have finally landed the wing help they need, but as the late great <\/span>Kobe Bryant<\/span><\/a> once said, \u201cJob\u2019s not finished.\u201d New reporting has revealed the team is continuing to search for rotational upgrades, particularly at center, with some intel on a key target.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Rumors: Next Steps After Finney-Smith Trade Revealed<\/b><\/h2>\n

Lakers Still Pursuing Walker Kessler, Among Others<\/b><\/h3>\n

According to <\/span>Anthony Irwin of ClutchPoints<\/span><\/a>, the Lakers remain active in finding help after acquiring <\/span>Dorian Finney-Smith<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Shake Milton<\/span><\/a> Sunday. They have held \u201cinternal conversations\u201d about the following big men: <\/span>Walker Kessler<\/span><\/a> (Utah Jazz), <\/span>Robert Williams III<\/span><\/a> (Portland Trail Blazers), <\/span>Nick Richards<\/span><\/a> (Charlotte Hornets) and <\/span>Day\u2019Ron Sharpe<\/span><\/a> (Brooklyn Nets). Irwin also provided an update on the Lakers\u2019 pursuit of Kessler, who is one of the team\u2019s major targets alongside Wizards veteran <\/span>Jonas Valanciunas<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Speaking of Kessler, sources say the Lakers and Jazz got fairly close to a deal over the summer, but talks this year have been pretty inconsistent. One issue Utah has pointed to is that sending Kessler to pair with Davis would improve the Lakers front court not just this year, but, importantly, moving forward. Utah holds the Lakers’ ’27 first, top-four protected pick. Danny Ainge has expressed concern that Kessler would stop the Lakers from fully bottoming out as Davis ages and after LeBron James retires.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Irwin added that the Lakers may follow a similar formula from the 2022-23 season, when they landed <\/span>Rui Hachimura<\/span><\/a> before pulling off a season-saving move for\u2014ironically\u2014<\/span>D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnticipation around the league is that this season will follow the same script, with Finney-Smith setting the table for a larger deal closer to the deadline.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Interest in Kessler Remains Logical for the Lakers<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Lakers\u2019 recent trade has opened the door wide open for additional trades, especially now that they still have those first-round picks (2029, 2031) to send out. It also makes their pursuit of a center all the more feasible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Injuries and inconsistency have left the Lakers without help behind <\/span>Anthony Davis<\/span><\/a>. Acquiring Kessler (and winning over a tough negotiator in Ainge) would be pivotal toward the team\u2019s success, as he\u2019s arguably the best option out of all the bigs the Lakers are interested in. Kessler is averaging 10.4 points, 11 rebounds and 2.8 blocks across 25 games as Utah\u2019s starting center, shooting .709\/.667\/.523 splits in the process. He is making nearly $3 million in the first of a two-year team option, but given his excellent start to the season, prying him from the Jazz isn\u2019t as easy as it looks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, putting significant draft capital on the table helps the Lakers\u2019 case for Kessler. They meet <\/span>Utah\u2019s asking price of two second-round picks<\/span><\/a> for him and can easily match the big man\u2019s salary (while taking on other players in return, if need be). It\u2019s ultimately up to Ainge and the Jazz to hear Rob Pelinka out, as the race for a young, talented 7-footer stretches into the new year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guard Help Just as Important<\/b><\/h3>\n

Center is still not the only position that the Lakers<\/a> must fill, however. Irwin said that, following Russell\u2019s departure, the Lakers will also be monitoring the second-unit\u2019s offense led by <\/span>Gabe Vincent<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(in addition to the fit of Finney-Smith and Milton). The 28-year-old UC Santa Barbara product hasn\u2019t put up the best numbers (4.3 PPG, 37% FG), though he went on a solid run as a backup guard before straining his oblique on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c…if he struggles, [the Lakers] might look to bring in a guard to better manage those minutes. If Vincent is moved in a trade for a different need, look for the Lakers to push for a veteran guard to replace his and Russell’s production off the bench.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although the play of Vincent and <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a> made the Lakers <\/span>comfortable enough to move on from Russell<\/span><\/a>, the pressure will now be on Vincent to continue his work as the bench unit\u2019s floor general. The Lakers would be wise to save their first-round picks for a center, but if they need to split them in separate deals for a big man and a guard, that could work just as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, the trade for Finney-Smith and Milton is hopefully the beginning of multiple deals to surround Davis and <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a> with pieces necessary for title contention. They are beginning to assess their needs around Pelinka\u2019s 30-game benchmark and will look to capitalize on their new-look roster and the balance it has achieved.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Lakers have finally landed the wing help they need, but as the late great Kobe Bryant once said, \u201cJob\u2019s not finished.\u201d New reporting has revealed the team is continuing to search for rotational upgrades, particularly at center, with some intel on a key target. Lakers Rumors: Next Steps After Finney-Smith Trade Revealed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":115123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,6,7,26,62,23,4721,24],"tags":[240,4556,307,4390,2272,4921,38,2978,4613,3811,4513],"class_list":["post-115116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nets","category-hornets","category-lakers","category-nba","category-trailblazers","category-trade-rumors","category-jazz","tag-anthony-davis","tag-austin-reaves","tag-dangelo-russell","tag-dayron-sharpe","tag-dorian-finney-smith","tag-gabe-vincent","tag-lebron-james","tag-nick-richards","tag-robert-williams-iii","tag-shake-milton","tag-walker-kessler"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115116"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115265,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115116\/revisions\/115265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}