{"id":172959,"date":"2026-01-15T18:20:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=172959"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:20:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:20:55","slug":"insider-lakers-trade-chips-2026-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/15\/insider-lakers-trade-chips-2026-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Insider Reveals Lakers&#8217; Latest Trade Chips Ahead of 2026 Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the Lakers look to add a 3-and-D wing before the trade deadline, new reporting has outlined exactly how they could get there.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Insider Reveals Lakers&#8217; Latest Trade Chips Ahead of 2026 Deadline<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>O\u2019Connor: Lakers Hoping to Flip Rotational Players, Future First-Round Pick<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kevin O\u2019Connor of Yahoo! Sports <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/lakersnation.com\/lakers-rumors-looking-to-trade-2032-first-round-pick-for-package-of-multiple-firsts\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reported<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that the Lakers are looking to move on from <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vandeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jarred Vanderbilt<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vincega01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gabe Vincent<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in exchange for a wing, as well as trading a 2032 first-round pick for other first-rounders.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWith the Lakers, the word on the street is they\u2019re trying to package Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent together for a wing. Now, the really interesting thing with them is, they\u2019ve been shopping around their future 2032 first-round pick for multiple first-round draft picks. Similar to what the Suns did a year ago when they traded their 2031 pick to the Jazz for three lesser firsts in \u201925, \u201927 and \u201929. So it seems like the Lakers are looking for two or three firsts that are worse individually than their future first, giving them more parts to put together in like Vincent plus Vanderbilt, or Vincent plus Kleber types of packages.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O\u2019Connor then reiterated the team\u2019s interest in <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/joneshe01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Herb Jones<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014who he described as \u201ctoo pricey\u201d\u2014along with <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murphtr02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trey Murphy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kuminjo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jonathan Kuminga<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the latter of whom <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/15\/jonathan-kuminga-demands-trade-what-it-means-for-the-warriors\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">requested a trade this morning<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. All three players fit the mold of what the Lakers are looking for, though it appears Jones is the most coveted option\u2014and also the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/09\/pelicans-name-5-untouchable-players-trade-deadline\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hardest to acquire<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"AD On The Move? Rich Paul Stirs the Pot &amp; Kuminga Wants OUT | KOC Live\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VguA3U5trIg?start=1042&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Cases for Trading Vanderbilt and Vincent<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once viewed as promising rotation pieces, Vanderbilt and Vincent have each struggled to contribute in meaningful ways, racking up less-than-ideal performances while missing significant time due to injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although Vando has brought much-needed energy to the bench\u2014impacting the team with his defense and rebounding\u2014his subpar offensive production has raised alarms this season, which is likely why head coach <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/12\/14\/recently-buried-bench-lakers-veteran-forward-could-help-fix-lakers-biggest-issue\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JJ Redick didn\u2019t play him for a month<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Across 29 games, Vanderbilt has averaged five points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 46.2% from the field, 31.4% from three and 71% from the free-throw line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite showing a willingness to expand his game to the perimeter, Vanderbilt has done little to help a bench that\u2019s <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?StarterBench=Bench&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=PTS\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dead-last in points per game<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. With <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/laravja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jake LaRavia<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smartma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marcus Smart<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> outplaying the 26-year-old forward, it may finally be time to part ways with the Vandolorian.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBIz3gVgyg\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 5868px; aspect-ratio: 5868\/3912;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gabe Vincent, meanwhile, has been the target of Lakers fans\u2019 trade machines for the past few seasons. From spending chunks of time on the sidelines to being (mostly) a non-factor on the floor, it\u2019s almost inevitable that Vincent\u2019s Laker tenure could end sooner rather than later. He\u2019s averaged 5.4 points and 1.4 assists this season and has become a shell of the player he was with the Miami Heat. Those struggles make him hard to sell as a positive trade asset. However, Vincent and his expiring $11.5 million salary could be intriguing for rivals in need of a veteran floor general.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Last Word<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At 24-14 overall and standing fifth in the gauntlet that is the Western Conference, the Lakers may have another path to acquiring the needle-moving piece(s) they desperately need.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a9 Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Lakers look to add a 3-and-D wing before the trade deadline, new reporting has outlined exactly how they could get there. Insider Reveals Lakers&#8217; Latest Trade Chips Ahead of 2026 Deadline O\u2019Connor: Lakers Hoping to Flip Rotational Players, Future First-Round Pick Kevin O\u2019Connor of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Lakers are looking to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":172962,"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":[1608,26,62,4721],"tags":[4921,4112,2941,4297,5029],"class_list":["post-172959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","tag-gabe-vincent","tag-herb-jones","tag-jarred-vanderbilt","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-trey-murphy"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172959","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=172959"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172966,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172959\/revisions\/172966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}