The Lakers had a great offseason, and it was a curious coincidence when the 8th (Jaxson Hayes), 9th (Rui Hachimura) and 10th (Cam Reddish) pick of the 2019 draft all ended up on the same team. These trades aim to obtain the 11th (Cameron Johnson) and 12th (P.J. Washington) picks of the same draft as well. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Trade 1:

• Hornets recieve: Jarred Vanderbilt

• Lakers recieve: P.J. Washington, 1 SRP

• Why Hornets do this: They don't lose Washington for nothing. There have been rumours that he's unhappy in Charlotte, and there has to be a reason why he hasn't signed yet. Here they get playoff-proven Vanderbilt who is an absolute unit on defence, and would complement their young core of LaMelo and Miller, both not known for their defence, very nicely.

• Why Lakers do this: They recieve a nice 2-way forward with decent shooting splits and not a slouch on defence. While he may not have Vanderbilt's defensive capabilities, he's able to offer much more on offence and gives the Lakers a more dynamic piece off the bench.

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Trade 2 (Done on the trade deadline):

• Nets recieve: Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2029 t3-protected FRP, 2030 FRP swap

• Lakers receive: Cameron Johnson, Dennis Smith Jr.

• Why Nets do this: They obtain a valuable FRP and pick swap in the future, as well as the 17th overall pick for the semi-rebuild they're conducting right now. While they downgrade in quality from Cam J to Prince, they upgrade from DSJ to Vincent, who's a playoff riser and could potentially be a starter for them come playoff time.

• Why Lakers do this: They get a starting PF and can move Rui back to the bench, where he was a very effective spark both offensively and defensively last season.

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How the team would look

• PG: D'Angelo Russell ││ Dennis Smith Jr. ││ Minimum Signing (someone like Rajon Rondo if he hasn't retired)

• SG: Austin Reaves ││ Max Christie ││ Cam Reddish

• SF: LeBron James ││ Rui Hachimura ││ D'Moi Hodge

• PF: Cameron Johnson ││ P.J. Washington ││ Colin Castleton

• C: Anthony Davis ││ Christian Wood ││ Jaxson Hayes

  The trades work financially if they're done seperately, fanspo's just bugging