{"id":172988,"date":"2026-01-16T10:54:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=172988"},"modified":"2026-01-16T10:54:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:54:33","slug":"the-lakers-could-land-chris-paul-in-a-michael-porter-jr-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/16\/the-lakers-could-land-chris-paul-in-a-michael-porter-jr-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lakers Could Land Chris Paul In A Michael Porter Jr. Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> are sliding fast in the Western Conference. They look stuck in quicksand. The Lakers could make a desperate move to add Michael Porter Jr.<\/a> They could also land Chris Paul<\/a> in the process.<\/p>\n

The Lakers Could Land Chris Paul In A Michael Porter Jr. Trade<\/h2>\n
\"The
Dec 13, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Chris Paul watches during the Emirates NBA Cup semifinals game between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Los Angeles sit fifth in the West with a 24-15 record. They opened the season hot and stood 11 games over .500. The good vibes from their seven-game winning streak in November feel distant now. December treated the Lakers harshly. They dropped seven games.<\/p>\n

The Lakers have several fatal flaws. The most obvious is their awful defense. They own a bottom-five<\/a> unit on that end. A lesser but still debilitating flaw is their three-point shooting. They make threes at the eighth-worst<\/a> rate. They still rank as a top-10 offense, sitting 8th<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why Michael Porter Jr. Fits<\/h3>\n

This reality explains why the Lakers could pursue Michael Porter Jr. Brooklyn are rebuilding. They have shown a willingness to flip veterans for the right assets. They have made Porter Jr. available in trade discussions. He has played his way from distressed asset to highly sought-after scorer. Porter Jr. averages 26 points, over seven rebounds, and three assists. All are career-best marks for the eight-year veteran.<\/p>\n

Two stumbling blocks stand in the way. First, GM Rob Pelinka would sacrifice future optionality<\/a> this summer. Second, the Lakers would use most of their remaining draft picks. They could have up to three tradeable first-rounders if they wait until summer.<\/p>\n

Still, adding Porter Jr. gives Los Angeles elite shooting. They badly need it. He is a proven winner. His rebounding at the four spot adds value. He will not solve their defensive issues. No single player can.<\/p>\n

How Chris Paul Enters the Picture<\/h3>\n

The Lakers could also land Chris Paul in this deal. They could do so by expanding the Porter Jr. trade. Their crosstown rivals sent Paul home early from a road trip last month. Since becoming trade-eligible on December 15, they have struggled to find a partner for the 40-year-old.<\/p>\n

The Lakers could step in and take him for little cost. They would round out a roster thinned by a Porter Jr. trade.<\/p>\n

What the trade could look like<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Lakers get: Michael Porter Jr., Chris Paul
\nNets get: Rui Hachimura<\/a>, Gabe Vincent<\/a>, Maxi Kleber<\/a>, 2032 first-rounder
\nClippers get: Tyrese Martin<\/a><\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 The Los Angeles Lakers are sliding fast in the Western Conference. They look stuck in quicksand. The Lakers could make a desperate move to add Michael Porter Jr. They could also land Chris Paul in the process. The Lakers Could Land Chris Paul In A Michael Porter Jr. Trade Los Angeles sit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":172990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_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":[62,1608,26,3,4721],"tags":[50244,229,1223],"class_list":["post-172988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-2025-26-nba-season","tag-chris-paul","tag-michael-porter-jr"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172988","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\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172988"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172991,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172988\/revisions\/172991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}