The Los Angeles Lakers officially kicked off training camp Monday at the team's training facility in El Segundo, California. Consists mostly of promising young stars and solid veterans, expectations are relatively low for this new-look Lakers heading into the 2016-17 season.
Still, that doesn't rule them out from competing for a playoff spots in a very loaded Western Conference. With Luke Walton coming in as the new head coach, there's a level of optimism this franchise can turn things around immediately, a year after Kobe Bryant called it a career.
Make no mistake, clinching a playoff berth in the West is going to be a brutal task. But the Lakers are always a proud franchise.
It won't be surprising at all if out of nowhere Mitch Kupchack pulled off a significant move on the trade market between now and February trade deadline, especially if this young team proves they can compete with the best teams in the NBA right off the bat.
Here are three big impact trades that would make the Lakers a strong playoff contender this season:
Find a way to flip Julius Randle for Nikola Mirotic - Look, I love J-Randle. He's beast who can put up at least 10 points and 10 rebounds every single night. Unfortunately, I just can't see him thriving in Luke Walton's fast-paced, small ball offense.
Unless he turns into an efficient 3-ball shooter and incredible decision-maker like Draymond Green, Randle will just be an undersized power forward with 27 percent clip from beyond the arc. I know he's a high-value asset being a former 7th overall pick and all that, but if it's for the better of the team, a trade should happen.
Mirotic is set to become a restricted free-agent next summer and I don't know the level of commitment the Bulls have in him. The former Spanish League will just turn 26 next February, so he very much belongs to the Lakers' youth revolution concept.
And more importantly, Mr. Mirotic is a 35 percent gunner from deep. Last season, he made 39 percent of his three ball and is a nice passer too at his size, making a perfect stretch-four for Walton-ran offense.
Trading Nick Young, Jose Calderon for Rudy Gay, Ben McLemore - Yeah, you probably heard this Gay to Lakers rumors. It's all over the place for crying out loud. Still, despite the lack of legitimacy of the sources, this trade scenario is just too enticing.
Why not? Trading Calderon's $7M expiring contract and a locker room problem in Young for a borderline All-Star swingman and a young shooter with still unrealized potential is a lopsided of a deal as it gets. But here we are die-hard Lakers fans hoping and praying that reports about this particular deal aren't just a click-bait article by an unknown, monetizing websites.
No matter how hard analysts ridicule his misfortunes the past three years, Gay is a stud my friends. He's averaging 18.4 points on 45 percent clip for a reason. He's a legit scorer that again can stretch the floor and create mismatches with his speed at power forward spot.
Then, here you have McLemore who once was one of the deadliest shooters in college basketball. This is another case of a prodigious talent badly misused by the organization that drafted him. I mean, come on. A talent would never gain any momentum, if team keeps switching coaches on a whim.
Gay and McLemore would be perfect pieces for the baby Lakers, giving them a legit scorer and at the same time, youth and depth in the backcourt.
Trading Yi Jianlian plus additional assets for a big dude - Why is it? Because there's no more attractive contract on the Lakers roster than that of Yi Jianlian: $8 million against the cap, but just $250K fully guaranteed.
Teams looking to create some cap space for next summer free-agency bonanza would love to have a piece of Yi's deal. And you know what? I believe the Lakers can steal some real talent from it.
The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the few teams that can absorb a significantly large contract without matching the incoming salary. Coincidentally, this team is aggressively shopping two promising big men on their roster: Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.
The Lakers could put up a package consists of Yi's attractive contract, a young player on their roster (Larry Nance Jr, Julius Randle or Ivica Zubac) and some draft picks for either of the two bigs. Okafor, the no.3 overall pick in the 2015 Draft, is a walking double-double machine with lots of rooms to grow. The same can be said to Noel, who's already an outstanding rim protector at 1.7 bpg with a rapidly evolving offensive game.
Despite that crazy free-agency offer (4-year, $64 million - face palm), Mozgov is nevertheless a fine pick up. He can put the ball into the rim and swat shot, but mediocre at his best.
In addition, the Lakers simply lack the ceiling to compete with bigger teams. As a matter of fact, the Lakers only have three seven footers into the training camp: Mozgov, lanky Yi and a very raw Zubac, who, oh boy, has the potential to be really, really good in 2 years time.
Acquiring an Okafor or Noel would be a big boost for the Lakers right away. These two already proved that they can produce if put on a right situation. The West has always been dominated by teams with productive guard-to-big connection, so it really makes sense to partner D'Angelo Russell with someone like Okafor or Noel to further build that strong foundation.