Kobe Bryant will leave a big gap in the Los Angeles Lakers line-up as he retires at season's end. Still, the Lakers have a strong make-up with Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, Deangelo Russell, and Larry Nance Jr. Despite this, however, the current season is far from being a stellar season for the Lakers. Besides a worthy replacement for Kobe Bryant, the Lakers could benefit strongly from a good NBA trade.
The LA Sports Hub points out that Lou Williams, Nick Young and Roy Hibbert make for strong trading chips for the Lakers. With their respective skills, Williams, Young and Hibbert are desirable acquisitions for a lot of the other NBA teams. A trade would allow suitable NBA teams to benefit hugely from acquiring Lou Williams, Nick Young and Roy Hibbert.
The media outlet also says that rather than a random pick, acquiring a young talent that will grow right in as part of the Lakers core might be what the Lakers need. K.J. McDaniels, who is a free agent with The Rockets, was cited as one of the top candidates.
ESPN provides a list of NBA players who will become free agents by the summers of 2016 and 2017. Needless to say, Lakers fans hope that the new additions that the Lakers will bring in will boost the Lakers back to top form all the way through the next season.
In conjunction, the Los Angeles Times reports, the biggest frustration of fans with Lakers coach Byron Scott right now is Scott's predilection toward centering the Lakers' plays on Kobe Bryant. While the upside highlights Bryant's skills, especially on his retirement season, fans protest the damage of Scott's Bryant-centric strategy to the other players.
Which precisely plays indirectly to Kevin Durant's choice for the next season. Uproxx reports that the Lakers will not be Durant's team of choice for the next NBA season because Durant is eyeing the championship. Durant wants to be sure that the team he's in is that one that has the strongest chance to top the NBA championship.
#TDIKH: Feb 24
2013: Bryant shot 13/21 for 38pts, while also collecting 12r & 7a before tweeting “Amnesty THAT”https://t.co/s8Cp4SCiGF— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 24, 2016
The Bleacher Report lists the top 20 NBA free agents in the 2016 market. Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers), Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons), DeMar Derozan (Toronto Raptors) and Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards) are at the top of this list. Time will tell of one them will join the Los Angeles Lakers come next season.
