Despite a strong start to the season for the Los Angeles Lakers, there are still roster flaws that will need to be addressed. The Lakers roster is almost identical to last season's team, aside from Bronny James and Dalton Knecht, with Knecht having made a major impact.
Knecht was taken 17th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft and is already starting and helping the Lakers and their spacing concerns. That has helped their offense with them ranking 9th in offensive rating.
Nevertheless, their defense has slipped from 16th last season to 24th in defensive rating this season. That drop-off has essentially wiped out the improvement that they have made on offense and is their biggest area of improvement.
The Lakers don’t have any guards who play with real force. The don’t employ a single two-way wing. Their backup center is on a two-way contract. It’s a worse roster than got swept in the WCF. It’s as good at best as the roster that got gentlemen swept in the first round. The FO…
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) November 24, 2024
The Los Angeles Lakers' roster is still very much a work in progress.
The Western Conference looking like it will be wide open with teams such as the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets not looking invincible. Then again, the Nuggets appear to have the Lakers' number having eliminated them twice in the last two playoffs and having overcame a big deficit to beat them recently.
If the Lakers can make some tweaks, by addressing their weaknesses then there is no reason why they can't be a top-four team in the West. Having a home-court advantage could make for a much smoother path through the playoffs and possibly back to the Western Conference Finals. There, a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis could will the Lakers to the NBA Finals.
Who should the Lakers target to improve their roster?
There have been a few rumored trade targets including Dorian Finney-Smith of the Brooklyn Nets, Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Kuzma of the Washington Wizards, and Robert Williams of the Portland Trail Blazers.
The cost of those players will be the team's biggest sticking point. The Lakers may be reluctant to trade first-round picks. Keeping all of their first-round picks and hoping to improve is wishful thinking. If they are serious about improving, one option they could consider is a move for Valanciunas and Kuzma.
Valanciunas is probably worth a couple of second-rounders, and Kuzma's value has likely dropped significantly. Offering the Wizards their Lakers' top-3 protected 2029 first and the Clippers 2025 second along with D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and Christian Wood might be enough for Los Angeles to improve on both sides of the ball. If they can make such a deal then the Lakers could emerge as serious contenders this season.