[The following submission is from the Los Angeles Lakers, run by students in the mock deadline practicum at the SBC Las Vegas Immersive.]

Assignment: Los Angeles Lakers

Team Members: Brandon Yoder, Kennedy Howery, Michael Crossley, Walker Krebs, Jeremy Roth, Autumn Mouton

As the Los Angeles Lakers, your direction and goals are decided for you–the franchise expects to win championships. Contending will be no easy feat given the roster, but that’s the task at hand.

The first and most crucial step was signing LeBron James to a maximum contract extension, ensuring he’ll stay in Los Angeles through the 2024-25 season (without a player option). With that taken care of, we could finally work to fix the disappointment that was the 2021-22 Lakers.

With James resolved, parting way with Russell Westbrook, adding shooting, and improving perimeter defense were the most significant issues needing resolution. Everyone on the roster was determined to be expendable except for Anthony Davis and James. We were also willing to trade only one of our future first-round picks.

We identified the Utah Jazz as a favorite potential trade partner; his large $47.1 million expiring contract could be valuable for a team transitioning into a complete rebuild. Initially, the goal was to move Westbrook in a deal for Kyrie Irving, but after much discussion, we felt it was better to go in a different direction.

 

We agreed to deal Westbrook to Utah with Austin Reaves, a first-rounder, and three second-rounders to the Jazz in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic, Patrick Beverley, and Rudy Gay. We also added Landry Shamet from the San Antonio Spurs (who they had recently acquired from the Phoenix Suns). It cost us that third second-round pick to Utah, with the Jazz sending one of their second-rounders to San Antonio.

The deal added elite shooting and helped reestablish the tough, defensive identity we had lost after the 2019-20 championship. We were very proud to move on from Westbrook and dramatically improve as a team, especially getting Shamet for what was essentially a second-rounder.

Next, we picked up Eric Gordon from the Houston Rockets for Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Max Christie, and a second-rounder. Despite his age (33), we believe Gordon is an excellent fit as a scorer, shooter and even a creator out of the pick-and-roll.

We executed two additional trades to bring on even more shooting and defense. Frank Ntilikina was obtained from the Dallas Mavericks for Wenyen Gabriel and two second-rounders. In December, Kenrich Williams was acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Damian Jones and a second-rounder.

Overall, we added elite shooting (Bogdanovic, Gordon, Shamet and Beverley), perimeter defense (Beverley, Williams and Ntilikina) and moved on from Westbrook, all while staying within our initial goal of trading away just one future first-round pick.

Trade 1

  • Lakers received Bojan Bogdanovic, Patrick Beverley, and Rudy Gay from Utah; Landry Shamet (previously acquired from the Phoenix Suns) via the San Antonio Spurs.
  • Utah received Russell Westbrook, Austin Reaves, the lower 2024 second-rounder from the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies, a 2028 first-rounder (top-10 protected, unprotected in 2029), the lower 2028 second-rounder between the Orlando Magic and Lakers and a 2029 second-rounder.
  • San Antonio received the lower 2026 second-rounder from the Utah Jazz or Memphis Grizzlies.

Trade 2

  • Lakers received Eric Gordon
  • Houston received Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Max Christie, and a 2023 Chicago Bulls second-rounder.

Trade 3

  • Lakers received Kenrich Williams.
  • Oklahoma City received Damian Jones and a 2027 second-rounder.
  • Note: Executed after December 15, 2022.

Trade 4

  • Lakers received Frank Ntilikina.
  • Dallas received Wenyen Gabriel and two second-rounders (2023 and 2025).

Other

  • Extended LeBron James for two additional seasons at a projected $97.1 million.
  • Claimed Armoni Brooks off waivers (Toronto Raptors) via the Marc Gasol trade exception.
  • Waived Scottie Pippen Jr.
  • Signed Jay Huff to a two-way contract.

Final Roster

PG: Patrick Beverley, Landry Shamet, Armoni Brooks
SG: Eric Gordon, Frank Ntilikina, Lonnie Walker IV
SF: LeBron James, Kenrich Williams, Juan Toscano-Anderson
PF: Anthony Davis, Bojan Bogdanovic, Stanley Johnson, Cole Swider (two-way)
C: Thomas Bryant, Rudy Gay, Jay Huff (two-way)

– Brandon Yoder