The Los Angeles Lakers are gearing up for a big 2025-26 NBA season. With Luka Doncic officially at the helm, they are starting to build a contender around his elite skills (and deficiencies). Lakers free agency has gone great so far, but this Lakers trade idea could take the team to an even higher level.
The Lakers' trade idea looks like this:
Suns trade: Dillon Brooks, Nick Richards
Lakers trade: Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber, Dalton Knecht, and a 2031 first-round pick
This is an all-in trade for the Lakers. They are trading away their last remaining assets to get the perfect role players to play alongside Doncic.
Nick Richards would be a serviceable backup for DeAndre Ayton. However, he isn’t the highlight of this trade.
The reason the Lakers are making this trade is to pair Luka with the infamous Dillon Brooks. Brooks is known around the NBA as a hard-nosed defender who can captain a defense and hold his own on offense.
Last season with the Rockets, he helped lead their elite defense while scoring 14 points per game on nearly 40% shooting from three-point range. Brooks fills the current gaps the Lakers have at the small forward position.
Brooks would instantly become the best wing defender on the Lakers' roster, something they desperately need to upgrade if they are planning to play Luka and LeBron James together.
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Giving up the 2031 pick certainly isn’t ideal, but that’s the price the Lakers will need to pay to get solid starter-level players. Besides, with Luka (hopefully) on the roster for a long time, Lakers' first-round picks should become less and less valuable.
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