The Los Angeles Lakers have made the biggest trade in NBA history, and it seems they are the clear-cut winners as the dust begins to settle. On Saturday, they traded Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick to the Dallas Mavericks for Markieff Morris, Maxi Kleber and Luka Dončić.
Dončić is a perennial All-NBA First-Team member and MVP candidate, and even though they lost their best (and only) starting-caliber big man, the deal was simply too good to be true.
The general consensus around the league is that the Lakers will start Dončić, LeBron James, Dorian Finney-Smith, Austin Reaves and a center, who will be determined at a later date.
The Lakers could gamble and hope that Jaxson Hayes or Christian Wood can step up and be a starter, but a more realistic outcome is they make a smaller trade before the Feb. 6 trade deadline to add an established, quality starter.
The Lakers have long been linked to Kelly Olynyk, Jonas Valančiūnas, Jakob Poeltl and Nikola Vučević. However, after fleecing the Mavericks, the Lakers have plenty of assets to play with still, and could set their sights higher.
As the Miami Heat enjoy recent success from rookie Kel’el Ware, Bam Adebayo may find himself on the trade block. In his first six career starts, Ware has averaged 13.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. On top of that, he is shooting 41.7% from 3-point range and looks the part of a franchise center.
Adebayo is having perhaps the worst season since his sophomore year. The three-time All-Star is posting 16.2 points, ten rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game, but is shooting a career-low 46.7% from the floor.
However, Adebayo is still a high-level center and the Lakers, it would seem, are ready to go all-in. The Lakers could offer Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent and a 2031 first-round pick (top-ten protected) to the Heat for Adebayo, Alec Burks and Haywood Highsmith.
The Heat would likely agree to this deal because they add a primary ball-handler who can excel next to Tyler Herro and Ware in Reaves, and they bolster their depth with two solid role players in Hachimura and Vincent.
The Lakers, meanwhile, should believe that Reaves is expendable now that Dončić is in town to run the offense. For the price of a protected pick, they add a legitimate third star who can be a defensive anchor to their new-look cast of superstars.
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