LA Lakers trade machine: Drawing up realistic package for Donovan Mitchell
A Donovan Mitchell to the LA Lakers trade has been a major talking point as of late. With the LA Lakers being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, and Donovan Mitchell & the Cleveland Cavaliers falling to the Boston Celtics, the timing could be right. Of course, the major hurdle to getting a deal done would be LA finding a way to take on Mitchell's contract without giving up LeBron James or Anthony Davis.
Should James opt in to the final year of his deal, he would make $51.4 million alone, with Anthony Davis set to make $43.2 million. On the flip side, Mitchell's cap hit is $35.4 million next season, creating quite the combination of contracts for the LA Lakers.
Despite that, the team does have some options, has several assets who could play a key role in facilitating a trade that lands Donovan Mitchell in Los Angeles. These include:
Rui Hachimura, who is set to make $17 million flat next season.
Austin Reaves, who is set to make $12.9 million next season.
Gabe Vincent, who is set to make $11 million flat next season.
Using a combination of these players and roleplayers on the NBA trade machine we see that there are several potential deals on the table for the LA Lakers. Of course in any case, the team would also have to include upcoming draft picks to make any potential Donovan Mitchell deal more worthwhile for the Cavaliers.
Looking further at trade packages the LA Lakers can offer for Donovan Mitchell
As previously mentioned, a deal for Donovan Mitchell would likely have to include a combination of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, or Gabe Vincent. In this section, we'll explore the other assets that would have to be included in deals for each of the aforementioned players.
In the event that the LA Lakers look to package Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent, they would also have to include Jarred Vanderbilt in a potential deal. On the flipside, if they decide to package Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent, they would be able to make the contracts work while including 21-year-old Max Lewis.
This could be beneficial because the Lakers would retain a strong two-way player in Vanderbilt, however, the Cavaliers may be hesitant to accept a deal for Vincent. The guard had a breakout year with Miami during the 2022-23 season, however, since then, he's been largely inactive in LA.
During the regular season, Vincent played in just 11 games, averaging just 3.1 points per game on 30.6% from the field and 10.7% from three. In the playoffs, when he returned, Vincent was unable to get going in the playoffs after so much inactivity, averaging just 1.4ppg on 25% from the field and 14.3% from downtown.
Given that, if Cleveland isn't interested in acquiring Vincent, the Lakers would be left with a tough decision that could see them pair Hachimura and Reaves. In this instance, they wouldn't have to give up a third player in Vanderbilt, however, the crux of the trade would be losing a proven young guard in Reaves.
With the offseason right around the corner, and plenty of exciting moves yet to be made, it will be interesting to see how things play out.