The Los Angeles Lakers is one of the surprising teams in the NBA right now. The team should be in the rebuilding phase this season with Luke Walton as the new head coach and its young core still on the process of realizing their maximum potential. But they are having a great start.
In the first 14 games of the season, the Lakers are a surprising 7-7 win-loss record. They are in the 8th spot in the competitive Western Conference. Former Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton is doing a stellar job in his first year as head coach.
The young core of D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson improved a lot. Russell is averaging 16.1 points, 4.8 assists and 1.3 steals. Randle is averaging 14.1 points and 8.3 rebounds while Clarkson is at 14.6 points and 1.6 steals off the bench.
Because of Lakers emergence, rumors say that the team is changing its priority. They now are targeting to contend for a playoff spot. Speculations are saying that they are looking to acquire a veteran superstar to help them achieve that goal.
According to YIBADA, the Lakers is interested to acquire superstar DeMarcus Cousins. And in exchange, they could send D'Angelo Russell, Nick Young and Lou Williams to the Sacramento Kings.
One of the Kings problem is the point guard position. If they can get Russell, they have a starting point guard for years to come. Kings will also have a veteran player in Nick Young and sixth man Lou Williams.
If this trade will push through, the Lakers will be just fine. Because even if Russell is gone, the team still have Randle, Clarkson and Ingram as their young core. Williams and Young can also be traded because they have enough veteran on their roster.
And having DeMarcus Cousins as their starting center would give them a big boost. With his size, strength and athleticism, he can easily score in the paint. He can also shoot threes and in the perimeter. And he is attracting a lot of attention from opposing teams' defense which could lead to wide open shots.
The Lakers is also known from acquiring great centers like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal. Is Cousins be the next big time center that the Lakers will acquire?
From a financial standpoint, this trade makes sense. Cousins has a salary of $16.9 million this season while Russell, Young and Williams has a salary of $5.3 million, $5.4 million and $7 million, per Spotrac.
Will DeMarcus Cousins be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers? Stay tuned for more NBA trade rumors and updates.
