Los Angeles Lakers: 3 potential trade proposals for DeMarcus Cousins

Trade No. 1

Realistically, the first two trades were wishful thinking. As much as Lakers fans would like to believe the Pelicans would take a package of young, slightly above-average players, that’s unlikely. Chances are other teams would offer more, making the Lakers’ offer irrelevant.

If Los Angeles really wants Cousins, it’s going to have to part with a rising star to get him.

There were really only three options in this situation: Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball or Kyle Kuzma. I know they’re all considered “untouchable,” but the prospect of acquiring Cousins could pry one of them from Magic’s grasp.

It was a tough choice, but in the end I went with Ingram for a couple of reasons. The first was that they already have an exciting wing scorer in Kuzma. The second was that Ingram hasn’t shown as much consistency through his first two seasons as Kuzma has through half of one.

Obviously I wasn’t going to get rid of Ball — no way Magic would ever make that move.

So Ingram it was. Not an easy choice to make, but a potential free agent addition like Paul George or LeBron James could handle the small forward duties. Luring one of them to Los Angeles would also be much easier with a lineup that consisted of Ball, Kuzma and Cousins.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is thrown in to make the financials work. Especially with his recent struggles in the shooting department, losing him for the second half of the 2017-18 season is a bearable burden. If anything, the Lakers would be glad to stop paying him so much money to be such an inefficient go-to threat.

Next: Predicting Lakers' 2018-19 starting lineup

It’s not easy making blockbuster deals, especially with a lack of same-year draft picks. However, if parting with Ingram gets the Lakers one of the best centers in the game, they need to at least consider it.