Lakers Linked To 5-Team Trade With Jazz, Knicks

The Los Angeles Lakers came into the NBA offseason with lofty aspirations. They were supposed to aggressively pursuit star players who could help them maximize what was left of LeBron James’ time in the league.

Unfortunately, nothing quite went L.A.’s way. Klay Thompson moved to the Dallas Mavericks. Dejounte Murray landed with the New Orleans Pelicans. DeMar DeRozan is now a member of the Utah Jazz.

Where does that leave the Lakers?

Well, Los Angeles is currently one of three teams vying for Lauri Markkanen. In addition, they also in the running for Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls.

This week the Lakers were linked to a 5-team trade involving the New York Knicks, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs by Fadeaway World.

The trade in question centers around Kyle Kuzma and Walker Kessler going to the Lakers; Julius Randle and two 2025 second rounders going to the Spurs; Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Zach Collins two 2025 first rounders and 2029 first rounder going to the Jazz; and D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Drew Eubanks and 2031 first-round swap rights going to the Wizards; and the Knicks getting Markkanen.

This is a legitimate win-win-win-win-win for all parties involved. L.A. gets two solid young players who could help them win immediately. San Antonio gets an offensively talented forward to pair with Victor Wembanyama. Utah gets draft capital and young assets that will come off the books by the time they need cap space.

New York walks away with a legitimate star and puts itself in position to make a Finals run in 2025. And the Wizards get financial flexibility in the short-term and draft capital.

Everyone walks away with something they need.

Will this trade ultimately go down? Time will tell. Should it, though? Absolutely.

Carlos Garcia

A longtime Sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB Games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.