Lakers' Most Realistic Trade Targets in 2024 Offseason

The Los Angeles Lakers were conference finalists last season and NBA champions in 2020. LeBron James' four other seasons with the Purple and Gold ended without either a series win or a postseason trip altogether.

Considering all of James' campaigns are graded on the championship-or-bust scale, this effort—which featured 47 regular-season wins and a gentleman's sweep out of the first round—undoubtedly goes down as a failure.

Change is almost certainly coming, but what kind of change and when? Is coach Darvin Ham on his way out? Would James consider declining his player option and heading elsewhere? If James stays, is the front office ready to cash in all of its trade chips for the best players it can afford?

If the Lakers' decision-makers hit the trade market with a willingness to spend, the following three players all loom as priority targets.

There's a chance the Mavericks embark on a deep enough playoff run to make the idea of Kyrie Irving going anywhere totally nonsensical. There's also a universe in which Dallas can't find its way out of a first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers and an injured Kawhi Leonard, which could be the kind of disappointment that puts everything other than trading Luka Dončić on the table.

If there's any possibility Irving is available, though, expect the Lakers to explore it.

They already know he can win at the highest level with James, as the pair steered the Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2016 title. They should also be excited to see what Irving could do with an interior force like Anthony Davis, who could be more efficient than ever playing off top-shelf creators like Irving and James.

Irving is, essentially, the dynamic lead guard L.A. has so often hoped D'Angelo Russell would become. Swapping out Russell (and a mountain of assets) for Irving would be the kind of massive move needed to take this team from the play-in tourney to title contention.

Cleveland's choppy first-round series with the Orlando Magic has done nothing to quiet questions about the longterm viability of the Cavs' core or Donovan Mitchell's desire to remain a part of it.

And if the five-time All-Star isn't fully sold on their future, then Cleveland may have no choice but to ship him out. He has a $37.1 million player option for 2025-26, per Spotrac, and if he doesn't sign an extension, he could enter free agency next summer and leave for nothing.

If he's angling for an exit, the Lakers have to hope he is specifically pushing to join them, as they're unlikely to have the best trade package. That could certainly happen, though, and it's not as if L.A.'s offer would be insulting. The Lakers could put three firsts and two swaps on the table, plus Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.

That's obviously a steep price, but Mitchell is obviously a premier player. He's good enough to handle primary scoring and secondary playmaking duties right away, plus he offers enough off-ball utility to share the offensive load with James and Davis.

The Lakers could use an offensive jolt. Despite having James and Davis each clear the 70-game mark, and Russell seemingly making every shot he attempted in the second half (before the playoffs started), this offense ranked just 15th in efficiency, per NBA.com.

Adding Trae Young, who has typically been a top-10 offense on his own, could provide that spark.

He's a bit more ball-dominant than the ideal co-star for James, but with their combined passing ability, they could create countless great shots for the others. And at 25 years old, Young could step into a 1A-1B setup with the offense now and take total control of it once James exits for good.

The Hawks seem eager to talk Young trades, so while matching his massive salary could be tricky, the actual trade cost could be less than his name recognition might suggest. He isn't the easiest player to build around given his severe defensive limitations, but if L.A. thinks it has the personnel to work around them, he would do wonders for this offense as a scorer, shooter and table-setter.