Trade Talk: Hachimura vs. Nunn, etc.

I was meaning to write this article before Hachimura made his Lakers debut last night, but it really doesn't matter, since he contributed exactly as I expected he would.

Lakers Get:	Wizards Get:
Rui Hachimura	Kendrick Nunn
	Three 2nd Round Picks

Anytime I write about the Lakers, there's certain points I feel a need to drive home.  One is that despite roster imbalances, with LBJ, Russ and AD they should be contenders regardless.  If fact is they always played correctly, then they should be able to beat most teams even without Davis.

And of late, they've been trying.  LBJ may not post up, but he's so strong that him driving basically has the same effect.  Russ is arguably the strongest G in the league, and now he's also capitalizing on that attribute by driving instead of depending on a virtually-nonexistent jumpshot.  AD also finally got the point, that they need him at the 5 instead of on the perimeter chucking up threes.  If he actually stays healthy and gets his legs under him, I don't see any reason why the Lakers can't compete for the title.

Players like Malik Monk and Stanley Johnson are now forgotten Lakers.  But those are the types of versatile, long, athletic types that you need next to Lebron when he's handling the ball.  LAL acquiring Lonnie Walker mitigated pain of losing Monk.  And as for Hachimura, he's a better all-around player than Johnson.  So out of all the boneheaded moves LAL has made in recent years, at least now they finally rightened one of their biggest mistakes, which was losing Monk especially but also Johnson.

As for Kendrick Nunn, he's one of the more baffling cases in the NBA.  He was a star rookie and I think even a starter in his first year, on Miami, a team which isn't known to be easy to crack the starting lineup.  Then it's like the Heat totally devalued him.  Maybe it was because they got better yet similar player in Jimmy Butler.  And I was kinda excited when Nunn went to LA, but then he got injured or whatever, and that plan never really worked out.

Speaking of devalued, it seems that Hachimura wasn't fully appreciated in Washington either.  I remember him getting into like internal beef a couple of times (but don't feel like looking up those incidents at the moment).  Also right before being traded, he made a statement like the Wizards don't want him.  Washington's braintrust isn't as incompetent as you would readily presume.  But I'd be surprised if Nunn, at this point, will be able to match Rui's production.

Then there are all those 2nd round picks which, hey, you never know, could prove something in the hands of a guru.  But, does Washington even really have any gurus like that?

CONCLUSION

Rui Hachimura may never be an all-star, but he's exactly the type of player the Lakers needed.  They could also use an additional rim protector for the times AD is hurt, but at least they solved one of their pressing issues, which was adding another athletic scoring wing.  With AD in the post, now you can have Lebron running point with Walker and Hachimura on the wings.  That would be a pretty hard lineup to beat.

As for the Wizards, they remain the team with dogged faith in Bradley Beal.  It's kinda ironic, -if you want to put it like that - that now after having signed that max extension, like his name isn't even in the All-Star conversation this season.  But maybe Nunn, who's more of a defensive (i.e. diesel) type, will prove a better fit next to Beal.  But ultimately, it'll all be for naught if Kuzma bounces and Porzingis continues to spend half of his time on the injured list.

Trade Talk: Beverly vs. Johnson + Horton-Tucker

Lakers Get	Jazz Get
Patrick Beverly	Talen Horton-Tucker
	Stanley Johnson

I've been picking on the Jazz a lot of late.  But just yesterday I was really thinking about it and came to the conclusion that in the 30+ years I've been following the NBA, I don't remember them ever having been garbage.

During the Stockton + Malone years, they were perennial playoff threats, if not flatout contenders.  And that team they had during the aughts with Deron Williams and AK-47 and them was also pretty promising.  And I also forgot about that time they were able to poach Carlos Boozer away from the Cavs.

What I can't really remember tho is what transpired between Williams compelling Jerry Sloan to quit and the Gobert + Mitchell years.  But even as recently as last season, like everyone knew that the Jazz at least had the potential to go all the way.  And now, with Danny "the Genius" Ainge onboard, they were able to get something like 10 players (!) for Rudy Gobert, i.e. the same type of package the Nets attempted (and failed) to get for KD himself.

So now that the alpha dog is undisputedly, as things currently stand, Donovan Mitchell, there's really no need to have someone like Patrick Beverly on the roster.  My assumption is that Mitchell is going to run the Jazz's offense, which in turn is not going to rely much on set plays.  So as I said before, you need dudes out there who can run around and keep up with him.  And now, the Jazz may have even scored two of those.

No one really knows how Stanley Johnson and especially Horton-Tucker is going to pan out.  But I feel, even though he didn't put up a ton of points last season, that the Lakers should kept Stanley.  Well, I really felt like that when Malik Monk was still around, because at least imo, those two complemented Lebron well.

One thing I can say about Patrick Beverly is that he's one of the very few players in the NBA who can make his present felt even without the ball, and LBJ is not likely to concede the point to him.  So that means the real reason the Lakers brought him over is to defend the other team's PG.

The problem is though that you need a G next to Lebron that can actually shoot - something that the Lakers really didn't have last season.  That's why, when I first promoted the idea of Beverly going to LAL, I included Mike Conley in that equation also.  A couple of days ago, I saw NBC for the first mention Russell Westbrook in a potential trade with the Jazz, which is something I suggested over a month ago.  So maybe this isn't over yet.  And hey, LAL, might as well go out and pickup Hassan Whiteside also.

CONCLUSION

I was reading something else on NBC today like the Lakers acquired Beverly in advance of trading Westbrook, which would make this transaction look more sensible from their perspective.  But I must admit that a defense of AD + Westbrook + Beverly + Lebron (if he's vested) would probably be pretty difficult to score on.  I still remember when Beverly clipped Westbrook, and reportedly they've had "beef" since.  But maybe that can kind of 'competitiveness', if they're on the same roster, can result in more inspired play, now that they both have something prove.

Meanwhile, I admire what the Jazz are doing.  There's too many superstars looking for new homes for the system to accommodate them all, and you can't just be like 'we're going to tank' with someone like Donovan Mitchell on your squad.  So the best these organizations can do is at least field the most competitive roster they can (like the Trailblazers).  And Utah still has so many assets that I don't think their wheeling and dealing is done yet.`