{"id":122706,"date":"2025-02-07T17:56:25","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T22:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=122706"},"modified":"2025-02-07T17:56:25","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T22:56:25","slug":"lakers-post-trade-deadline-shooting-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/07\/lakers-post-trade-deadline-shooting-guard\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Post-Trade Deadline Move Could Include Shooting Guard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Without question, the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/07\/lakers-add-south-bay-standout-on-two-way-contract\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0came out of the NBA trade deadline on top. They won; it&#8217;s as simple as that. If any other team had landed\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, say, the Toronto Raptors, they would have won the deadline. But it was the purple and gold who struck gold. With their roster essentially set for the remainder of the season, with all trades complete, the Lakers could add a shooting guard to the mix. Sources connected with the Lakers organization point to the last open roster spot for a player to help in the backcourt, and there could be several options. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Lakers Post-Trade Deadline Move Could Include Shooting Guard<\/h2>\n<h3>Lakers Made Their Trades; Have Open Roster Spot to Fill For A Shooting Guard<\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Athletic&#8217;s Jovan Buha pointed to the shooting guard position as the closest need the Lakers could address after all the trade chaos has closed. Rob Pelinka has done an admirable job this season after all the dust has settled. First, he exchanged\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/russeda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">D&#8217;Angelo Russell<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/finnedo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dorian Finney-Smith<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0(and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/miltosh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Shake Milton<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">), then swapped\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Anthony Davis<\/span><\/a> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">for Don\u010di\u0107. Pelinka&#8217;s\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/06\/lakers-luka-doncic-request-mark-williams\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">grand finale was another stunner<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in shipping away popular rookie\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/knechda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dalton Knecht<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> to the Charlotte Hornets for a much-needed big man,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willima07.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mark Williams<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Now, Pelinka must turn his attention to filling the final roster spot. They have the perimeter set, paint addressed, and Luka and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">LeBron James<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0at the top of the lineup.\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/news-219335-lakers-buyout-market-strategy-shooting-guard-priority.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Buha speculated<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">BasketNews.com<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0what the Lakers are leaning toward and their options.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Just logically looking at the depth chart, they kind of have everything else. They don\u2019t need a point guard, they have multiple wings that can play 30-plus minutes a night, they have a couple of centers. Looking at the roster and the layout of everything, they need another shooting guard, so I think that\u2019s a direction they\u2019re going to try to go<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Whose Out There&#8230;<\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Buha also pointed out that the Lakers could end up just going after whichever name is best if a shooting guard doesn&#8217;t work out. Players such as\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryse01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Seth Curry<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walkelo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lonnie Walker IV<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/richajo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Josh Richardson<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sprinja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jaden Springer<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, or\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jacksre01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Reggie Jackson<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0could be targets, provided they&#8217;re available. The most intriguing player that will hit the buyout market is\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/simmobe01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ben Simmons<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, whom the Brooklyn\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/06\/nets-ben-simmons-working-contract-buyout-agreement\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Nets have decided to move on from<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. However, despite a friendship connection between Simmons and LeBron, the Lakers are not a team rumored to be in the running to claim the former Philadelphia 76ers superstar. Buha has the sense that the Lakers will make the best decision available, no matter who it is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>I\u2019ve heard they\u2019re going to be patient<\/em>.\u00a0<em>They\u2019re not in a rush to find that potential 15th player. They view the shooting guard spot as the current hole right now, so it seems that\u2019s the type of guy they\u2019re going to try to get.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Without question, the\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0came out of the NBA trade deadline on top. They won; it&#8217;s as simple as that. If any other team had landed\u00a0Luka Don\u010di\u0107, say, the Toronto Raptors, they would have won the deadline. But it was the purple and gold who struck gold. With their roster essentially set for the remainder [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5081,"featured_media":122717,"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":[1608,26,62],"tags":[240,266,307,49212,2272,4326,254,38,1617,1133,4044,170,585,3811],"class_list":["post-122706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","tag-anthony-davis","tag-ben-simmons","tag-dangelo-russell","tag-dalton-knecht","tag-dorian-finney-smith","tag-jaden-springer","tag-josh-richardson","tag-lebron-james","tag-lonnie-walker","tag-luka-doncic","tag-mark-williams","tag-reggie-jackson","tag-seth-curry","tag-shake-milton"],"modified_by":"Aaron J Zacharias","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122706","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\/5081"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122706"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122748,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122706\/revisions\/122748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}