The One Trade The Lakers Need to Make to Repeat as Champions

The Los Angeles Lakers front office signed several offensive weapons this offseason. The addition of Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schroder was of great help. Newly-added players have a big role on the basketball court. But, there’s one major problem. The Lakers need to address their defensive struggles. Truth is, the Lakers don’t have the same defensive power as they did in the 2019-20 season. Will the Lakers repeat the same performance as champions?

In Friday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, the team allowed 62 points in the paint. Yes, they did win the game, but couldn’t contain dribble penetration at the point of attack. We all saw Zach LaVine and Coby White did their thing. Thaddeus Young and Wendell Carter Jr. did a big damage.

“Our defense was … obviously missed A.D. probably even more on the defensive end than on the offensive end,” Lakers head coach Frank Vogel told reporters after the win. “But we competed, we grinded through it. … We weren’t playing our best basketball, second night of a back-to-back, but we hung in there and grinded it out.”

Lakers have a good chance to repeat the same performance as champions

The Lakers have a 8-3 record at this point of the season. Their offense was brilliant, but their defensive struggles are horrible. The Lakers need to rediscover the rim protection they lost with the trade of JaVale McGee. Dwight Howard is no longer part of the team.

A big trade can help the Lakers repair some of the damage. Will the Lakers trade Kyle Kuzma?

Kuzma had a promising game this season. But, he also looked as someone who doesn’t know what to do on the floor. Kuzma himself said that he doesn’t know where he stands in the offseason.

The young Laker has made strides offensively. That’s why the Lakers offered him a three-year contract extension. This leads us to the following question. Maybe Kuzma’s style doesn’t fit this Lakers roster.

Kuzma has been an NBA player for four years. The Brooklyn Nets selected him in 2017. In his four seasons, Kuzma was averaging 15.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. He has shot 45 percent from the floor and turned it over 1.8 times per game.

There’s an upside too. He had a breakout game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.