The Los Angeles Lakers could send their core veterans of Lou Williams, Brandon Bass, and Ryan Kelly to the Houston Rockets, according to the latest NBA trade scenario.
The Lakers are bound for another doomed season, but the team could splash some trades before the deadline to get pieces vital to the franchise's rebuilding process.
According to Joel Cordes and David Murphy of the Bleacher Report, one possible trade scenario the Lakers should consider is sending Williams, Bass, and Kelly to the Rockets for Corey Brewer and Donatas Motiejunas as an investment for a "low-cost future center."
Cordes noted that Motiejunas would be an "intriguing" fit alongside Julius Randle, adding that Brewer could hold down the wing position until the Lakers find a long-term solution.
Meanwhile, Murphy pointed out that while losing Williams would mean losing an integral part of the team's offense next season, adding Brewer and D-Mo would solve the small forward and center position.
"He's big, still young and has a lot of versatility. If he can get his back right and stay healthy, he'd be a nice piece for the Lakers," Murphy added.
What makes this trade more reasonable for the Lakers is that they get to receive an expiring contract in Motiejunas, which helps LA clear cap-room for this summer if the Lithuanian big man would not fit in.
As for the Rockets, they would get another prolific scorer in Williams, who can take off the ball pressure on James Harden, while Bass could help with the inside scoring and Kelly on stretching the defense with his three-point range.
The trade scenario succeeds ESPN's trade machine, although the Lakers could still experiment a bit if such deal materializes.
What the Lakers could try to do is include Nick Young and/or Roy Hibbert's expiring contract in a trade package as the two expendable players could free cap-space more than what Bass and Kelly have.
However, it could be difficult dealing Hibbert and Young on the same package, so the Lakers would have to get creative or find another team who could absorb either of their contracts.