As Anthony Davis made his wish to play next to a center public, the Los Angeles Lakers are exploring their trade options ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Bleacher Report’s salary cap expert Eric Pincus proposed a complex four-team trade that involves 15 players which could help the Lakers land their coveted center.
Pincus’ blockbuster trade proposal is as follows:
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Clint Capela (from Hawks), Vit Krejčí (from Hawks), Mouhamed Gueye (from Hawks)
Atlanta Hawks receive: Jusuf Nurkić (from Suns), Rui Hachimura (from Lakers), Christian Wood (from Lakers), Johnny Davis (from Wizards), Patrick Baldwin Jr. (from Wizards), Bol Bol (from Suns), 2025 second-rounder (from Lakers), $22.3 million trade exception (Clint Capela), $17.3 million trade exception (Bogdan Bogdanović)
Phoenix Suns receive: Bogdan Bogdanović (from Hawks), Anthony Gill (from Wizards), Shake Milton (from Lakers), $2.1 million trade exception (Bol Bol), $865,000 trade exception (Jusuf Nurkić)
Washington Wizards receive: Kobe Bufkin (from Hawks), David Roddy (from Hawks), Jalen Hood-Schifino (from Lakers), $5.3 million trade exception (Johnny Davis), $2.4 million trade exception (Patrick Baldwin Jr.), $2.2 million trade exception (Anthony Gill), 2025 second-rounder (via the Suns), $2.5 million from the Lakers
Clint Capela Fits Lakers’ ‘Positional Need’
Capela is averaging 9.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in just 22.4 minutes this season.
“Capela fits the positional need (costing a low second instead of a first), and the Lakers get a replacement wing in Krejčí, who has a friendly contract and could earn productive rotation minutes off the bench. The team can play big with Anthony Davis and LeBron James at forward or smaller, with [Dorian] Finney Smith replacing Hachimura as a starter and Capela off the bench,” Pincus wrote on Saturday, Feb. 1.
Capela is on an expiring $22.3 million deal.
Pincus added that the Lakers “can look to re-sign Capela to a team-friendly contract while spending its $5.7 million projected taxpayer mid-level exception under the second apron” if they make this trade.
Lakers in Active Trade Talks With Hawks: Report
The Lakers are pursuing Capela’s teammate Bogdan Bogdanović, according to Clutchpoint’s Anthony Irwin.
“Since trading D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith, the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to score anywhere near the rate they were with Russell on the roster. With the NBA trade deadline looming, Rob Pelinka is looking to address that issue and, according to sources with knowledge of the situation speaking on the condition of anonymity, the Lakers and Atlanta Hawks are in talks that would send trade target Bogdan Bogdanović to Los Angeles,” Irwin wrote on Friday, Jan. 31.
Gabe Vincent, Jalen Hood-Schifino and another salary filler are believed to be involved Lakers players in the talks, Irwin added, which could expand into “a bigger trade.”
Jake Fischer reported on “The Stein Line” on Thursday, Jan. 30, “that momentum is building toward a Bogdanović trade, with confidence rising that Atlanta could ultimately have multiple options when it comes to moving him.”
It turns out, the Lakers are one of those options that the Hawks have.
JJ Redick Also Wants Bruising Big Man
Capela is exactly what Lakers rookie head coach JJ Redick wanted to ease Davis’ defensive burden and preserve his energy on offense.
“You certainly have to look at what I think is actually a very good roster, a very balanced roster,” Redick told Sirius XM NBA Radio during the NBA Summer League in July. “We’d love to, we tried, but we’d love to, at some point, get another five man, a big bruising five man.
“You look at the Western Conference right now, whether it’s Denver, Minnesota, OKC with what they added, certainly Memphis, they’re going to be back in the hunt, they added Zach Edey, certain matchups in the playoffs, you’re going to need a lot of size.”
Capela, a 6-foot-10, 256-lb. center, has been one of the best offensive-rebounding centers in the league over the past three seasons.
