Getty Anthony Davis and Jarrett Allen compete for a rebound during an April 6 game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers.
For a team with Anthony Davis and LeBron James at the top of its roster, the Los Angeles Lakers have been quiet this season. Far from drafting Bronnie James and Dalton Knecht, they have avoided working outside the margins.
Could it be that Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office are waiting for more options to present themselves in the future? The Ringer’s Michael Pena capitalizes on this assumption in a column writing “22 Bold Predictions” for the upcoming NBA season.
Pena predicted that Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen will be traded midway through the season. And that Los Angeles, among other teams, has the means to sign him.
Lakers Receive: Allen
Cleveland receives: D’Angelo Russell, Christian Wood, two first-round picks, one Knecht/Rui Hachimura
Allen is coming off his eighth career season and fourth as a member of the Cavaliers. In 77 regular-season games last year, he averaged 16.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 blocks per game.
He and Davis will form a near-impenetrable Lakers defense, with both bigs capable of getting over the perimeter. As the Cavaliers continue to invest in Evan Mobley, whose future lies in the NBA, maximizing Allen’s value seems inevitable.
Pena: Lakers are building a ‘dangerous defense’ with Allen and Davis
Pena’s argument for the Lakers going all-in is the defensive upside in the Allen/Davis front court.
“Spacing issues aside, if the Lakers do this, they will immediately boast one of the two or three most dangerous defenses in the Western Conference,” Pena wrote on October 21. “Allen is a mobile big player who can switch along the perimeter and slide quickly from the weak side to compete for shots at the rim.
He also made it clear that Davis is better than Mobley and could help maximize Allen’s skill set.
“Next to Anthony Davis (one of the few big men alive who is a better defender than Mobley, and someone who doesn’t want to spend the rest of his career in the paint) Allen could be great, with an offensive skill set that’s nothing to sneeze at,” Pena continued. In it too.” “He’s a dunking machine that catches the ball and sets some of the toughest screens in the league.”
If there’s anything you don’t like about the Allen/Davis front court, it’s the spacing. Neither big man is shooting average from behind the arc, which would hurt floor generals Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent.
Congestion in the half court is a weakness that always comes up in the playoffs. And that’s assuming Los Angeles survives the Western Conference challenge. They finished 47-35 last season, finishing eighth in the conference standings.
D’Angelo Russell, the odd man out in Los Angeles
Neither Russell or the Lakers appear interested in continuing their partnership. The 11-year-old guard did not give Los Angeles a choice when he picked up his $18 million player option, after previous reports indicated he would seek free agency.
That doesn’t mean the Lakers should keep him. That doesn’t mean Russell wants to be in Los Angeles either. The 28-year-old has guaranteed money with plans to visit free agency next summer, remaining eligible as a trade chip as well.
Russell was a solid performer in the regular season last year: 18 points, 6.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game on above-average 45/41/82 shooting. But his production fell through the cracks in the playoffs for the second year in a row. He managed just 14.2 points per game on 38/31/50 shooting chops during their five-game loss to the Denver Nuggets.
As the 2024-2025 regular season gets underway, look for Russell’s name to continue popping up in the rumor mill. He and the Lakers have no mutual interest in a future together, and he is on an expiring salary.
Collin Loring covers the NBA, WNBA, and MLB for Heavy.com, where he has been a contributor since 2021. His sports coverage has also appeared in FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Strickland. More about Colleen Loring
