Although the Los Angeles Lakers have plenty of star power, serious cracks are beginning to show. They have a painfully bad defense that has sabotaged their season thus far, with them having lost six of their last 10 games, some of which were blowouts.
That has Lakers fans panicking, with them seemingly far away from contending with the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and even San Antonio Spurs. That is unless they make a big trade to try to salvage their season, and the Ringer's Bill Simmons believes he has just the trade.
Simmons has long thought that a blockbuster trade between the Lakers and Golden State Warriors was possible. And he recently proposed a trade that would send star LeBron James, and possibly son Bronny James to the Warriors for Jimmy Butler
It's clear that the Lakers are in desperate need of a shake-up, but I'm not sure if I share Simmons' belief that this trade could solve all of their problems. Butler, at this point, is probably a better defender than LeBron and perhaps a more consistent offensive player. But it still seems like he'd be an overall downgrade for the Lakers.
Obvious Lakers-Warriors trade would send Jimmy Butler to L.A.
Butler is also under contract for three more years and would eat into their cap space this summer to the tune of $46 million. That alone might be a no-go for the Lakers, who are banking on letting LeBron retire or leave in free agency to rebuild around Luka Dončić.
It's also worth noting that a lot of their struggles can be attributed to Doncic falling back into bad habits. Their defense has been terrible because Doncic and Austin Reaves are bad defenders, and LeBron isn't nearly the player that he once was on that end.
Doncic has been especially abysmal on that end of the floor with his lazy play. He often ball watches or fails to get back on defense to instead argue with a referee over any and all foul calls that he feels he should have gotten. Until Lakers coach JJ Redick is able to fix that, there is no point in making such a drastic trade.
Instead, smaller trades may be the Lakers' best bet to right the ship. They have several expiring contracts and a few remaining picks that they might be able to use to land a rotation player or two. The Lakers should also be prioritizing players who can defend, with them having more than enough offense to carry them.
Getting stops will determine how successful this Lakers team will be this season. And while Simmons' trade would net them a talented defender in Butler, he simply doesn't make a lot of sense for them when smaller deals could make just as big of an impact for L.A.