The new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers JJ Redick has revealed that the team needs a big bruising man to ease the defensive burden of Anthony Davis.
“You certainly have to look at what I think is actually a very good roster, a very balanced roster, Redick said in an interview with Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson on Sirius XM NBA Radio.
“We’d love to, we tried, but we’d love to, at some point, get another five man, a big bruising five man.
“You look at the Western Conference right now, whether it’s Denver, Minnesota, OKC with what they added, certainly Memphis, they’re going to be back in the hunt, they added Zach Edey, certain matchups in the playoffs, you’re going to need a lot of size.”
The Athletic’s Jovan Buha believes the Lakers’ best path to grant Redick’s wish is via trade.
“I don’t see that big man being out there in free agency,” the Lakers reporter said on his podcast “Buha’s Block” mailbag on July 16.
“It’s probably going to have to be a player that they go out and get in a trade and maybe they do one of these trades for one of these wings and they’re able to rope in a big man.”
One of the trade ideas Buha floated was expanding the Jerami Grant trade talks with the Portland Trail Blazers.
“If they go and get a Jerami Grant, could they also get a Robert Williams in that trade? So there are ways to lump in a big man,” Buha said.
“My understanding is again like it’s on their to-do list [to get a big man] but they’re also looking at these wings that can space the floor and can also defend multiple positions and it seems like that has been the greater emphasis for them over the last few weeks but right now, you know if that’s 1A this is 1B.”
Based on Buha’s idea, here is a trade proposal that might work for both parties.
Lakers receive: Jerami Grant and Robert Williams III
Blazers receive: D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish, 2029 first-round pick, 2028 pick swap, 2025 second-round pick (via Clippers) and the Lakers’ 2025 second-round pick
According to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report, the Blazers’ asking price for Grant is the Lakers’ 2029 and 2031 first-round draft picks. But the Lakers have been unwilling to meet that price, per LA Daily’s Anthony Irwin.
Perhaps the Lakers could be motivated to give up more if they can also get Williams to fill their frontline needs. With Williams’ injury history, the Lakers are taking a risk hence they can leverage off that to lower the Trail Blazers’ asking price and give up a pick swap and a couple of second-round picks instead of their 2031 first-round pick.
Finding the Common Ground
According to Highkin, Hachimura has some appeal on the Trail Blazers and if they lower their asking price for Grant, there is a deal to be made.
Adding Williams, who fits the bill of Redick’s big, bruising center to pair with Davis, into the deal could be their common ground.
Hachimura and the picks are the Lakers’ headliners in this trade package with Russell, Vincent and Reddish as salary fillers.
Grant is the best player on this deal. The 30-year-old forward is entering the second season of a five-year deal worth $160 million with a $36.4 million player option for the 2027-28 season.
Williams has become expendable for the Trail Blazers after they drafted UConn center Donovan Clingan with the No. 7 pick in the last NBA Draft.
Though still only 26, Williams has only played 41 games over the last two seasons due to injuries. He is coming off a knee surgery. But when healthy, he was a defensive monster. During the 2021-22 season, Williams averaged 10 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 61 games for the Boston Celtics.
In this trade scenario, the Lakers would also open up two roster spots which they could use to bring back Spencer Dinwiddie on a veteran minimum and use their $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception to pursue another point guard with Tyus Jones, Markelle Fultz and Devonte Graham still available.
