4 trades the Lakers can make after Rob Pelinka reveals all bets are off

Lakers gain financial flexibility, depth as San Antonio buys into its tank job.

Who would’ve thought we’d see the day when the Lakers and Spurs could feasibly make a trade with each other? It’s finally arrived with San Antonio hitting the reset button for the first time since its one-year tank to land Tim Duncan. With the Lakers trending up and the Spurs trending down, it’d be feasible for San Antonio to take on Westbrook’s contract in return for some impactful role players.

I won’t present a specific deal here since there are too many variations of the same players that could work. Any combination that includes two of Jakob Poeltl, Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson would be enough for San Antonio to trade for Westbrook since the team essentially didn’t use any of its cap space this offseason.

Poeltl is clearly the prize here, though he’d also be the most difficult to pry from San Antonio. One of the game’s most underrated bigs, Poeltl is an elite rim defender, rebounder and pick-and-roll partner who’s surprisingly light on his feet. The quintessential starting center, he’s less flexible than someone like Turner, but makes a tremendous impact at a low cost.

Meanwhile, Richardson and McDermott offer some much-needed shooting across various positions. While the latter is a higher-quality shooter, the former is a more versatile player who offers a lot on defense, as a secondary ball-handler and all-around team player. The number of picks it’ll take to make a deal happen would likely be contingent on which pairing, or even trio the Lakers get in return. Still, the impossible may become possible: L.A. and San Antonio could help each other out.