Pina predicted that Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen will be traded midseason. And that Los Angeles, amongst other teams, have the means to land him.<\/p>\n
Lakers receive<\/strong>: Allen<\/p>\n Cleveland receives<\/strong>: D\u2019Angelo Russell, Christian Wood, two first round picks, one of Knecht\/Rui Hachimura<\/p>\n Allen is coming off of his eighth career season, and fourth as a member of the Cavaliers. In 77 regular-season appearances last year, he averaged 16.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game.<\/p>\n He and Davis would make for a Lakers defense that\u2019s almost impassable, with both bigs capable of traveling the perimeter. As the Cavaliers continue investing in\u00a0Evan Mobley, who\u2019s NBA future is at the center spot, maximizing on Allen\u2019s value feels inevitable.<\/p>\n Pina\u2019s argument for the Lakers going all in is the defensive upside of an Allen\/Davis frontcourt.<\/p>\n \u201cSpacing issues aside, if the Lakers do this they would immediately boast one of the two or three most menacing defenses in the Western Conference,\u201d Pina wrote on October 21. \u201cAllen is a mobile big who can switch along the perimeter and quickly slide from the weakside to contest shots at the rim.\u201d<\/p>\n He also made the case that Davis is better than Mobley, and could help maximize Allen\u2019s skillset.<\/p>\n \u201cNext to Anthony Davis (one of the few big men alive who\u2019s a better defender than Mobley, and someone who doesn\u2019t want to spend the rest of his career banging around the paint) Allen could be incredible, with an offensive skill set that\u2019s nothing to sneeze at, either,\u201d Pina continued. \u201cHe\u2019s a lob-catching dunk machine who sets some of the firmest screens in the league.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n If there\u2019s anything not to like about an Allen\/Davis front court, it\u2019s the spacing. Neither big men shoots league-average from behind-the-arc, which would hurt floor generals Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent.<\/p>\n Congestion in the halfcourt is a weakness almost always exposed in the playoffs. And that\u2019s assuming that Los Angeles makes it out of the gauntlet that is the Western Conference. They finished 47-35 last season, and eighth in the conference standings.<\/p>\n Neither of Russell or the Lakers seem interested in continuing their partnership. The 11-year guard didn\u2019t give Los Angeles a choice when he opted into his $18 million player option, after previous reports suggested he\u2019d pursue free agency.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean the Lakers have to keep him. And it doesn\u2019t mean that Russell wants to be in Los Angeles, either. The 28-year-old took the guaranteed money with plans to revisit free agency next summer, remaining eligible as a trade chip, too.<\/p>\n Russell was a solid regular-season performer last year: 18 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game on an above average 45\/41\/82 shooting split. But his production fell off a cliff in the playoffs for a second-straight year. He managed just 14.2 points per game on 38\/31\/50 shooting splits in their five-game loss to the Denver Nuggets.<\/p>\n As the 2024-2025 regular season gets underway, look for Russell\u2019s name to continue popping up on the rumor mill. He and the Lakers have next-to-no mutual interest in a future together, and he\u2019s on an expiring salary, to boot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pina predicted that Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen will be traded midseason. And that Los Angeles, amongst other teams, have the means to land him. Lakers receive:… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nPina: Lakers Build \u2018Menacing Defense\u2019 with Allen, Davis<\/strong><\/h2>\n
D\u2019Angelo Russell the Odd-Man Out in LA<\/strong><\/h2>\n