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It would be in the Los Angeles Lakers’ best interest not to take their time pursuing assets they can envision flourishing in their system.
Why? Doing so could force Los Angeles to potentially miss out on striking gold, as several contributors on the offseason market can serve as franchise-elevating pieces.
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes named a 30-year-old Denver Nuggets title-winning forward as an ambitious trade for the Lakers this summer, and the NBA pundit believes the Lakers will have to surrender a 6-foot-8 NBA Cup champion to acquire him.
“The Los Angeles Lakers can sign two free-agent starters with their $52 million in cap space, but the wiser move might be to sign one and use the balance to take on a bigger salary in trade before re-upping with Austin Reaves on a deal worth more than $200 million,” Hughes wrote Sunday.
“Depending on how many players' rights they're willing to renounce, the Lakers could flip someone like Jarred Vanderbilt for a much more expensive option like Aaron Gordon. Health concerns abound, but Gordon's defensive versatility and shooting make him an ideal support piece for Luka Doncic.”
Gordon’s floor-spacing ability was nothing to write home about for the first 10 years of his career, but he's caught fire the past two seasons. The former Orlando Magic lottery pick shot a career-best 43.6% from deep in 2024-25 and 38.6% this past season, proving he’s done the work to become a daunting perimeter shooting threat.
That said, it’s a bit concerning that Gordon has recently suffered hamstring and calf strains, which have limited his availability in the regular season and postseason.
It likely won’t automatically eliminate him from consideration by the Lakers, though, making him a target that could potentially land with Los Angeles.
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