REPORT: Lakers Could Land 2 New Stars

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka may try to land new stars to give LeBron James and Anthony Davis enough help on the floor. LA entered the offseason a little too early this year. NBA experts believe that Pelinka will make a few big moves in the offseason.

In a June 7^th episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Ryen Russillo and Simmons made some predictions about the Lakers moves in the offseason.

“Hey, there’s no way there isn’t going to be some weird Lakers acquisition that pisses off the world, alright,” Russillo said.

Simmons suggested that the Lakers may go after Kyle Lowly and DeMar DeRozan. The franchise has been linked to Lowry for quite some time. They wanted him at the trade deadline but decided to keep Talen Horton-Tucker.

“The DeRozan stuff has started both on the internets and in the NBA whisper circles,” Simmons said. “There’s DeRozan buzz now, and I don’t think they [Lakers] can be counted out with a Lowry sign-and-trade. I mean, you can talk to 10 people and hear Lowry’s going to 10 teams. Lowry is just on every team, he’s 90% there, name a team, he’s heading there. There’s a world in which maybe they have DeRozan and Lowry next year.”

Lakers to compete with other teams and land new stars

The Lakers don’t have much money to get these two. Their salary cap goes for LBJ, AD, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Kyle Kuzma. Simmons believes that the Knicks have a better chance to get Lowry.

Enter Dennis Schroder. He became unrestricted free agent with full control over his future. If his asking price hits the sky, LA may do a sign-and-trade.

Bobby Marks from ESPN has a nice suggestion for LA. However, he did mention this move was “highly unlikely.”

“For example, the Lakers could trade Kuzma, Caldwell-Pope, an unprotected first-round pick in 2027 and the right to swap firsts to San Antonio for a signed-and-traded DeMar DeRozan,” Marks detailed. “Although such a trade works on paper, it is highly unlikely the Lakers could make that move and remain below the $142 million threshold while still retaining Schroder, Caruso, Horton-Tucker and perhaps Drummond.”