LAKERS 5 BEST TRADES OF LAST 5 YEARS

WRITTEN + EDITED BY JORDYN BONTRAGER

Am I tripping, or are the Lakers currently the best team in basketball by a landslide?

The coaching staff is cooking. The star trio is synchronizing. The supporting cast is delivering, and it’s most junior associate is fresh off his first signature moment as a member of the squad.

Los Angeles is now 15-6 since all caps STEALING Luke Kennard from Atlanta, and the sharpshooting southpaw has steered clear of the dreadful icy shooting spells which have accompanied virtually every other shooting specialist acquired by the Lakers. The good vibes that have been cast around this entire team lately seemingly arrived simultaneously with Kennard’s onboarding. At this point, it would appear that the soon-to-be 30-year-old shooting guard may have found himself a long-term nest.

Kennard may not have been the most profound trade deadline pick-up in Rob Pelinka’s portfolio, but the maneuver has proven more fruitful than most others in terms of immediate success. Here’s how the team’s only midseason mix-up slots into the top 5 trades from the past 5 years.

#5 | D’ANGELO RUSSELL x MAXWELL LEWIS x 3X FRPs TO BROOKLYN FOR DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH x SHAKE MILTON

#4 = | GABE VINCENT x 2032 SRP TO ATLANTA FOR LUKE KENNARD

#3 = | KENDRICK NUNN x 3 SRPs TO WASHINGTON FOR RUI HACHIMURA

#2 = | RUSSELL WESTBROOK x DAMIAN JONES x JUAN TOSCANO-ANDERSON x 2027 FRP x 2024 SRP TO UTAH (SRP TO MINNESOTA) FOR D’ANGELO RUSSELL x MALIK BEASLEY x JARRED VANDERBILT

#1 = | ANTHONY DAVIS x MAX CHRISTIE x 2029 FRP TO DALLAS FOR LUKA DONCIC x MAXI KLEBER x MARKIEFF MORRIS