{"id":78908,"date":"2024-05-26T16:54:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-26T20:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=78908"},"modified":"2024-05-26T16:54:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-26T20:54:49","slug":"lakers-encouraged-to-trade-for-rivals-star-role-player-michael-porter-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/26\/lakers-encouraged-to-trade-for-rivals-star-role-player-michael-porter-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Encouraged to Trade for Rival’s Star Role Player"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lakers are currently connected to several stars this offseason. However, one NBA executive is encouraging them to go for someone who is a perfect fit instead of a big name—and it involves trading with a well-known conference rival.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Encouraged to Trade for Rival’s Star Role Player<\/b><\/h2>\n

Background<\/b><\/h3>\n

An Eastern Conference GM told <\/span>Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports<\/span><\/a> that LA should go after Nuggets wing Michael Porter Jr.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf they want to get better, that is who they\u2019d go after\u2026They need a gunner who is not afraid to shoot and they\u2019d be much better off if he can be a 3-4 like LeBron, if he is not a size mismatch. A knockdown shooter who creates space, that\u2019s the first step to getting them back to contender status again.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Porter Jr. was a thorn in the Lakers\u2019 side in their matchups over the past couple of seasons. In their latest meeting in the first round, the 6\u201910\u201d wing averaged 22.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists on 55% shooting from the field, 49% from three and 77% from the free-throw line. <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a> even admitted that <\/span>MPJ \u201ckicked our ass\u201d<\/span><\/a> in the series:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Do you remember when we talked about having luck to win a championship? Denver is a case for that. There’s no way, coming out of high school, before the back surgery, that Michael Porter would even be in Denver. The guy was a projected No. 1 pick in the draft.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

MPJ was no doubt a key part of the Nuggets\u2019 success as they took the no. 2 seed and beat the Lakers in the playoffs again. However, he couldn\u2019t replicate his heroics in the second round. In seven games against the Timberwolves, Porter Jr. put up just 10.7 points per game on .371\/.325\/.769 splits.<\/span><\/p>\n

At this time, there is no indication that the Nuggets intend to break up the core that won them a championship last year. However, the <\/span>potential second-apron penalties<\/span><\/a> and key decisions by <\/span>Kentavious Caldwell-Pope<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Reggie Jackson<\/span><\/a> could alter those plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Does Michael Porter Jr. to the Lakers Make Sense?<\/b><\/h3>\n

With both the Lakers and Nuggets facing challenging offseasons, a deal between these two is the furthest thing from anyone\u2019s mind. Deveney even wrote that the Lakers \u201c<\/span>would be happy to see Denver have to ship off Porter Jr. to a team in, say, the Eastern Conference.<\/span>\u201d If Denver ever considered moving their standout small forward, they\u2019d probably prefer that plan as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, if Rob Pelinka and Calvin Booth engaged in trade talks, it wouldn\u2019t take much to match <\/span>Porter\u2019s $35.8 million salary<\/span><\/a> for next season. Deveney posited that a deal around <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Rui Hachimura<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Jalen Hood-Schifino<\/span><\/a> could get the job done. The Lakers also have three first-rounders\u2014the 17th pick this year and ones in 2029 and 2031\u2014to use in <\/span>any potential trade<\/span><\/a> this summer. The Nuggets, meanwhile, currently own <\/span>first-round picks in 2024, 2026, 2028 and 2030<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Lakers strike out on <\/span>Donovan Mitchell<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Dejounte Murray<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>Trae Young<\/span><\/a> this offseason, a trade like this seems like a reasonable pivot. They would be adding a young, talented wing with adequate size and shooting (assuming he\u2019d break the curse of Lakers who forget how to shoot when they join the team). And at 25 years old and under contract for three more years, Porter would be an ideal piece to join <\/span>Anthony Davis<\/span><\/a> in the post-LeBron era.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, that trade would also give Denver two excellent starters and a young guard who can improve off the bench—with limited options to replace their production. The last thing the Lakers want to do is help the opponent who ended their season twice. The same holds true for the Nuggets, who want to remain title contenders.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Last Word on Michael Porter Jr. and the Lakers<\/b><\/h3>\n

While Michael Porter Jr. seems like a great fit at first glance, his contract and potential asking price does not justify a trade between LA and Denver. The Nuggets would be better off keeping Porter or moving him to the Eastern Conference. The Lakers should target wings on cheaper contracts who would fit their team just as well.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lakers are currently connected to several stars this offseason. However, one NBA executive is encouraging them to go for someone who is a perfect fit instead of a big name—and it involves trading with a well-known conference rival. Lakers Encouraged to Trade for Rival’s Star Role Player Background An Eastern Conference GM told Sean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":76780,"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":[1608,20,26,62,4721],"tags":[240,4556,4907,1105,38,1223,170,1749],"class_list":["post-78908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-lakers","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","tag-anthony-davis","tag-austin-reaves","tag-jalen-hood-schifino","tag-kentavious-caldwell-pope","tag-lebron-james","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-reggie-jackson","tag-rui-hachimura"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78908","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=78908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}