On Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers will head to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood to take on the Los Angeles Clippers. It will be the latest installment in the cross-town rivalry that has never truly materialized between the two teams, especially since they have never met in a playoff series.
The Lakers hold a 19-7 record, but many feel they’re one or two minor pieces short of being a true championship-caliber team. The missing piece is thought to be an athletic 3-and-D player who will upgrade their perimeter defense while giving them more footspeed and another outside shooting threat.
Zach Buckley, a writer who contributes to Lake Show Life on the FanSided network, recently suggested a trade that would give the Lakers two such players by pulling off a deal with the Clippers. This mock trade would give them guard Kris Dunn and forward Derrick Jones Jr. for Dalton Knecht, Gabe Vincent and a 2031 first-round draft pick.
“The Lakers will need actual stoppers to prevent postseason opponents from catching fire, and this deal would deliver exactly that,” Buckley wrote.
“Jones is an all-purpose disruptor who can fly around anywhere on the perimeter. Dunn is the point-of-attack pest this roster so clearly lacks. And they aren’t just good in the point-prevention side of defensive, either. Both are certified playmakers on that end, with Dunn averaging better than 1.5 steals and Jones supplies more than a block per outing from the small forward spot—all while neither is logging even 27 minutes a night.
“That ability to generate live-ball stops is big, because that can help fuel what probably should be a prolific transition attack but hasn’t actually been one (26th in fast-break points). The mere idea of Doncic or Reaves leading the break while the other spaces off-ball and James goes hard-charging to the basket is nightmare fuel for opposing coaches.”
Dunn, a 6-foot-3 31-year-old, is averaging 8.3 points, three assists and 1.6 steals in 26.5 minutes a game this season. He’s shooting 37.7% from 3-point range and 49.4% overall, and while his 3-point shooting was erratic last season, he was at 36.9% the season before that and 47.2% during the 2022-23 campaign (in 22 games). He could be a nice upgrade over Vincent, who is very inconsistent with his outside shooting and, therefore, sometimes unplayable.
Jones, meanwhile, is averaging 10.8 points, 0.8 steals and 1.2 blocks in 24.9 minutes a contest and shooting 34.8% from downtown this season. At 6-foot-6, he has a wingspan of seven feet, and his vertical leap was measured at about 45 inches. Back in 2020, he won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend in Chicago.
The Clippers are tied for the Western Conference’s second-best record at 6-21, so perhaps they would be open to moving one or more of their players for draft compensation. But one has to wonder if they would be willing to help the Lakers.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Writer proposes needle-moving Lakers trade with Clippers
One writer suggested a trade with the Clippers that may give the Lakers what they need to become true championship contenders.