The trade buzz surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers isn’t nearly as loud as it was just one month ago, though that could change if L.A. focuses its efforts on targets playing for a specific team.
Anthony Irwin of Lakers Daily reported on Monday, August 5, that the Brooklyn Nets are one of two teams potentially willing to take on D’Angelo Russell’s contract in a trade with L.A. He also identified both Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith as among the Lakers’ primary targets this summer.
“Toronto and Brooklyn are more open to acquiring the nine-year veteran, but more for his expiring contract than for what he’d do on the court,” Irwin wrote.
Irwin also noted Bruce Brown of the Raptors as a player of interest in Los Angeles, though the Nets have two pieces for the Lakers to choose from and Johnson is far and away the most intriguing prospect of the three.
The Nets are bonafide sellers after shipping Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks and are clearly aiming to bottom out over the next couple years, each of which not so coincidentally include heavily talented NBA draft classes.
Russell is set to earn approximately $18.7 million in 2024-25, while Johnson will make just over $23.6 million next season as part of a four-year agreement worth $94.5 million total.
Lakers May Be Able to Acquire Cam Johnson, Keep Both Tradable First-Round Picks
GettyCameron Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets.
Sean Deveney of Heavy suggested last month that the Lakers might consider targeting Johnson if free agency didn’t pan out for them. He added that because Johnson is a good player, though not a star, Los Angeles might be able to pull off the deal without surrendering either of its tradable first-round picks (2029, 2031).
“The Lakers would have to persuade the Nets that taking back Russell and last year’s first-round pick, Jalen Hood-Schifino, would be enough of a return for Johnson, whose lengthy injury history dings his value,” Deveney wrote on July 3.
Los Angeles also has 21-year-old shooting guard Max Christie on its books for the next four years at $32 million total who they could include in a move ahead of next year’s February 6 trade deadline. However, the Lakers have indicated a belief in Christie’s future by signing him to that contract and may not want to ship him out.
Cam Johnson Offers Lakers Front-Court Shooting They Desperately Need
GettyCameron Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets.
Johnson is 6-feet-8 and has averaged between 12.5-15.5 points per game in each of his past three campaigns. He also boasts a career mark of 39.2% from behind the 3-point line on 5.7 attempts per contest and has eclipsed 40% shooting from downtown in two of the past three seasons, according to Basketball Reference.
The stretch forward possesses the combination of length and shooting necessary to make him a perfect fit with the Lakers’ offense captained by LeBron James, particularly in lineups in which Anthony Davis plays center.
Johnson, 28, has a wingspan of 6-feet-10 and posted a defensive rating of 117.2 last season, just 1.1 points worse than the league average of 116.1. However, Johnson was an above-average defender in each of the past three seasons when playing with the benefits of a quality roster around him as a member of the Phoenix Suns.
Davis was a First-Team All-Defense honoree in 2023-24 and James has shown, even heading into his age 40-season, that he can turn up the defensive intensity in big regular-season moments as well as the playoffs. Johnson’s length allows him to guard multiple positions and should he land in L.A., a reasonable chance exists that his defensive performance vaults back into the above-average range.
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