Lakers Exchange $146 million star for Dalton Knecht and two first-round picks in a pitch flip.
The Los Angeles Lakers arguably have two of the best 10 players in the NBA on their roster in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but that doesn’t look to be enough in a stacked Western Conference.
The front office in L.A. is keenly aware of this, which is why the Lakers lingered around free agency rumors involving players like Klay Thompson, now of the Dallas Mavericks, and trade talks involving guys like Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks. None of those deals happened for a variety of reasons, but that just means Los Angeles is still potentially in the game to add a third star.
Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report authored a trade pitch on Friday, September 13, in which Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat is that star. Bailey laid out the details of the proposal as follows: Lakers receive: Butler, Josh Richardson Heat receive: D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Dalton Knecht, Gabe Vincent, two first-round picks (2029, 2031) Butler joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis might actually make some sense. Despite the Lakers’ stars both playing like top 5-10 players in 2023-24, L.A. once again found itself in the play-in mix. And with much of the West potentially better this season, it’s hard to imagine running it back with the same supporting cast yielding a much different result.
With LeBron turning 40 in December, the Lakers will have to take some pretty aggressive swings to win him another championship ring. Butler turns 36 years old ahead of the upcoming season and is entering the second year of a three-year, $146 million contract with the Heat. However, the final season is a player option, and Butler sought an extension from Miami over the summer.
He didn’t get that deal, after which the star forward said publicly that he doesn’t plan to sign an extension anywhere, indicating instead that he will hit unrestricted free agency in 2025. Butler, who has made six All-Star teams over his career and led Miami to two NBA Finals appearances in his five years with the organization, is a proven playoff killer who plays tough defense and has averaged north of 20 points per game in each of the past four regular seasons.
