The Los Angeles Lakers’ most recent 107-98 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night improved their record to 13-11 as they hold onto the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Los Angeles’ future Hall-of-Fame duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been pulling out all the stops to keep the team afloat, with Davis scoring 27.5 points on a remarkable 61.0% true shooting percentage and James contributing 23.0 points and dishing 9.1 assists.
While the pair of NBA 75th Anniversary Team members have been producing at a spectacular rate, the team as a collective has struggled on both ends of the floor.
Their No. 26 ranked 117.0 defensive rating specifically calls for a drastic change, and the Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka may be tempted to remedy the issue by contacting the New Orleans Pelicans to inquire about their gifted perimeter defender.
The 26-year-old Herb Jones is already an All-Defensive First Team selection and fifth-place finisher in Defensive Player of the Year voting as he enters his fourth NBA season. Coming off of his incredible 2023-24 season, the Lakers have been named as the leading suitor to acquire Jones in recent reports.
“While Davis is an incredible defensive player…the nine-time NBA All-Star needs some help,” shared Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Hanna Wednesday.
“Fortunately, there is a player who would be a great addition to help the Lakers out on defense, and it looks like they’re a frontrunner to land him.”
“According to a report from Bovada (per NBACentral) the Lakers are one of the favorite NBA franchises to land forward Herb Jones in a potential trade.”
While he had been contributing to previous iterations of Pelicans teams that were somewhat competitive, the franchise currently resides at the bottom of the Western Conference with a 5-21 record through 26 games.
Jones has contributed 10.3 points and a career-high 1.8 steals to the injury-riddled Pelicans, and their wasted season has turned the defensive prodigy into a likely trade candidate.
The potential acquisition of Jones for Los Angeles would immediately help the team climb the defensive rating ladder towards the conclusion of the season, as the pairing of Jones on the perimeter and Davis protecting the paint would be an unstoppable defensive formula.
To acquire Jones, Los Angeles would likely ship out names like Gabe Vincent or D’Angelo Russell paired with a young prospect like Max Christie and first-round draft compensation.
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