Los Angeles Lakers: Team Should Pass On Goran Dragic, Ty Lawson

With the Los Angeles Lakers staring the trade deadline right in the face, and the 3 p.m. EST deadline marks the last chance for the team to acquire a franchise building block until the summer.

Point guard seems to be the position with the most talent available. Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson joined Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic in demanding a change of scenery, and the Denver Nuggets likely have had enough of Ty Lawson after he failed to show up to practice following the All-Star break.

If acquired, it’s tough to deny that any of those three players would become the best asset on the Los Angeles Lakers roster. The 24-year-old Reggie Jackson, makes perfect sense for the Lakers; he’s young, talented, and a potential franchise building block for the team to pair with forward Julius Randle for the future.

However, the team has been linked more so with the other two point guards on the market, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard.

Goran Dragic, 28, and Ty Lawson, 27, represent slightly older options for the Los Angeles Lakers to pursue. Neither player is what you would consider an elite option at the position, but are All-Star caliber players, and would clearly make the 13-40 Lakers better.

The problem is that these players aren’t worth giving up assets for, especially for a team that lacks them to begin with.

In the case of Dragic, he’s a pending free agent, who has already put the Lakers on his short list of preferred destination.

This creates a problem for the Los Angeles Lakers when it comes to parting with their draft choices and players. Why give up anything for a player that could easily come over in free agency, a mere five months later?

Acquiring Goran Dragic also presents a bigger issue for the team: it makes them better immediately. With Dragic on the roster, the team likely plays its way out of a bottom-five record, and conveys a top-ten pick to Phoenix as a result.

Regardless of the talent obtained in a Dragic trade, missing out on a high first-round pick would be a killer blow for the Los Angeles Lakers given the disastrous season they’ve had.

These two problems are enough to have Mitch Kupchak sit on his hands when the phone rings regarding a trade with the Suns.

As for Lawson, trading for the former North Carolina Tar Heel would be rolling the dice on a player who has had issues in Denver. This calendar year alone he has been arrested on suspicion of DUI and missed practice for unknown reasons following the All-Star break, both surely have been a catalyst to the Nuggets’ willingness to discuss a trade with their best player as the centerpiece.

The issue with deal for Lawson, aside from potential issues off the court, is that the Nuggets will more than likely be asking for a king’s ransom for the embattled point guard.

They held out for two firsts for Timofey Mozgov, and are wanting at least a first-rounder for guard Arron Afflalo. Including draft picks in a deal for any player would be tough for the Lakers, especially for a player like Ty Lawson, who has not shown he is the type of guy who can carry a franchise.

Dealing assets for a good, but not great, player who could be a big headache off the court? There are surely better options for the Los Angeles Lakers.

For both players, the talent is there.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, the incentive to give up assets to acquire them is not.

Next: Should Lakers Buy Out Jeremy Lin?

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