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How Every NBA Team Can Trade Its Worst Contract This Offseason

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Los Angeles Lakers: Danny Green

The contract: One year, $15.4 million

The trade: Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma and Talen Horton-Tucker to Indiana Pacers for Victor Oladipo

The Los Angeles Lakers have three eight-figure salaries. Two belong to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. That would’ve made Green the worst contract by default even if he hadn’t authored a spotty first season in L.A.

His trade value shouldn’t be tanked, though, as he’s a career 40.0 percent three-point shooter who can handle most defensive assignments. Plus, he’s a three-time champion with 145 playoff contests under his belt, so a team in need of a postseason guide—say, a squad that hasn’t seen the second round since 2014—might see him as a viable trade target.

That’s doubly true if the Pacers don’t feel good about a future with Oladipo, due either to the buzz about his wanting out or perhaps a reluctance to cover the cost of his next contract. Indiana wouldn’t necessarily decline next season—Oladipo rarely looked right last season, and the team fared better without him—and its future would undeniably brighten with the arrivals of Kuzma and Horton-Tucker.

The Lakers would follow their world title by winning the Association’s race to build the next Big Three. Even if Oladipo never gets all the way back to his previous production levels, he would only have to do so much heavy lifting around James and Davis. And if Oladipo does flash his old All-Star form, L.A. would have a dynamic shot-maker and lockdown defender to support the league’s top twosome.