Kenneth Faried (Photo : Doug Pensinger | Getty Images Sport)
The LA Lakers' offseason moves may not be over yet and the trade market opens more opportunities for them.
However, the team has already identified a clear goal in mind as Larry Coon of Basketball Insiders mentioned, and that was Russell Westbrook.
"I know the Lakers are trying to be opportunistic with their remaining cap space, and I believe they are waiting for the Westbrook situation to resolve itself before they make any other moves."
This was based on fellow Basketball Insiders writer Eric Pincus' revelation that the Lakers have yet to sign some of their contracts in order to make on "opportunistic trade."
The trade model that was cited was their acquisition of Jose Calderon, an expiring deal that the Chicago Bulls needed to dump in order to sign Dwyane Wade.
While a trade of that exact nature may not happen at this time (there are no more big free agents available, unless you count LeBron James and JR Smith), there are teams that are determined to unload players, and the Lakers could take advantage.
The latest addition to the list of players on the trading block is Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets. This was confirmed by Zach Lowe and Marc Stein of ESPN in The Lowe Post podcast.
Lowe has quoted: "I'm hearing Denver is trying to get off Faried, which I think they are, but if they have to move a decent wing to get off Faried and get something good in return, they've got a lot of wings now - young ones, mid-career ones - take your pick."
If the Lakers are willing to sacrifice a young core player, perhaps one of Julius Randle or Larry Nance, they could swap for the Faried + wing package. Sending Julius Randle and Nick Young (whom the Lakers want to get rid of) for Faried and Gary Harris could make sense for both teams.
The Lakers are saving the pieces of their young core and their fans would be averse to trading anyone, Randle or Nance, even for veterans. But the two players play the same position (Nance as a small-ball center may not work well) which could see one of them being traded down the line.
The ideal for the Lakers is to use Nance/Randle along with D'Angelo Russell for a star player (DeMarcus Cousins and Russell Westbrook) and Coon said the Lakers are indeed waiting for that. But if the Lakers shift the other way (trading a young core player for a veteran on the block), Faried, along with Rudy Gay and Greg Monroe as the players on bad fits that they could buy low.
Faried's tenacity and defense could work best for the Lakers, but Monroe and Gay are projected to opt out and become free agents next season making them expiring contracts that the Lakers seek to acquire. Faried still has three more seasons on his deal.
