Lakers go all-in to win a ring next season by pulling off a mega trade for 3 championship caliber starters in Derrick White, Deni Avdija, and Onyeka Okongwu to play alongside superstars Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
The Lakers’ mega 4-team, 9-player trade for White, Avdija, and Okongwu will cost Reaves, Knecht, Hachimura, Vincent, Vanderbilt, Milton, and the team’s 2031 first round pick plus 2028 and 2030 first round pick swaps. The trade transforms an offensive oriented Lakers’ starting lineup with 4 weak defenders into a lethal two-way starting juggernaut with 4 strong individual and team defenders who are also excellent offensive players.
Most importantly, the trade accomplishes the Lakers’ most important goal for the offseason, which is to show LeBron James and Luka Doncic how serious and committed they are to building a championship dynasty.
Pulling off the mega trade not only upgrades the Lakers’ title hopes but also essentially guarantees LeBron will return for at least one more season and Luka will sign a long-term extension to remain in purple and gold.
The timing could not have been better for Lakers to be blessed by the basketball gods when Pelinka parlayed Davis, Christie, and a 2029 first round pick into the 26-year old international superstar Luka Doncic.
But while Luka is the future face of the purple and gold, it’s going to be hard as long as LeBron is still on the team not to think of the Lakers as his team. Plus, if the Lakers win it all, LeBron might decide to stay longer.
Let’s take a closer look at the mega trade itself and why White, Avdija, and Okongwu are the championship caliber starters LeBron and Luke need, and what are the Lakers’ options to restore their roster depth and diversity.
THE MEGA TRADE
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The Los Angeles Lakers disappointing first round ‘gentlemen’s sweep’ by the Dallas Mavericks clearly exposed why superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic and 3 one-way players are not a championship blueprint.
To be championship contenders, the Lakers must upgrade the 3 players who start alongside superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic. One-way players like Reaves, Hachimura, and Hayes simply aren’t good enough.
The Lakers need 3 legitimate two-way players who can be counted on to make right decisions, defend multiple positions, create plays for others, share the basketball, hit open shots, and play with energy and physicality.
With Luka Doncic at the one and LeBron James at the four, the Los Angeles Lakers need to dramatically upgrade their other 3 starters, including Austin Reaves at the two, Rui Hachimura at the three, and Jaxson Hayes at the five.
The Lakers should target Celtics’ shooting guard Derrick White to replace Austin Reaves, Trail Blazers’ small forward Deni Avdija to replace Rui Hachimura, and Hawks’ center Onyeka Okongwu to replace Jaxson Hayes.
White would cost the Lakers Knecht, Vincent, and an unprotected 2031 first round pick while Avdija would cost Reaves, Milton, and a 2030 pick swap and Okongwu would cost Hachimura, Vanderbilt, and a 2028 pick swap.
Assuming they re-sign LeBron and DFS, the Lakers remaining trading chips include Maxi Kleber’s $11.0 million tradable contract, the #55 pick in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft, and their 2026 first round pick swap
The Lakers need to replace last season’s 3 offense-first starters with 3 new two-way players with positional size who can shoot the three-ball and defend their positions and fit better with superstars LeBron and Luka.
THE NEW STARTERS
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Lakers pull off mega 4-team, 9-player trade to create championship starting lineup with Luka Doncic surrounded by 4 two-way players who can defend in Derrick White, Deni Avdija, LeBron James, and Onyeka Okongwu.
The transformation starts with two-time All-Defensive Second Team guard Derrick White replacing Austin Reaves as starting shooting guard to form a perfect L.A. Lakers’ backcourt of the future with point guard Luka Doncic.
The soon-to-be 31-years old Derrick White is not only the perfect defense-first guard for the Lakers to pair with offense-first Luka Doncic but also an offensive player who’s one of the league’s elite 4th quarter clutch shooters.
The transformation continues with 6′ 9″ budding future superstar wing Deni Avdija replacing Rui Hachimura as the team’s starting small forward. Deni can space the floor, get to the basket, and defend multiple positions.
He gives the Lakers the legitimate bigger 3&D wing they have long coveted. His positional size, bully ball physicality, 3-point shooting, and ability to defend 1 through 5 make him the perfect wing for the Lakers to pursue.
Completing the overhaul of the Lakers’ starting lineup is 24-year old modern two-way center Onyeka Okongwu, who’s capable of both protecting the rim with his shot blocking and stretching the floor with his shooting.
While the Lakers still need a backup center with a bruising big body like Steven Adams, 24-year old Okongwu has everything the Lakers need in a modern two-way center who can protect the rim and stretch the floor.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ championship caliber starting lineup has Luka Doncic at point, Derrick White at shooting guard, Deni Avdija at small forward, LeBron James at power forward, and Onyeka Okongwu at center.
THE NEW ROTATION
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After the 4-team mega trade, the Lakers will have 9 active players on the roster, which means they will need add 5 more players to increase the roster to the 14 active players the league requires every team to carry.
Assuming LeBron James accepts his $52.6 million player option, the Lakers would be $9.1 million under the first apron, which would not be enough to even sign 5 more players much less take advantage of exceptions like MLE.
With the Lakers making a mega trade to upgrade their 3 non-superstar starters, the odds of LeBron taking a pay cut to open up cap space so the Lakers could use the $14.1 million NT MLE and $5.1 million BAE increase.
In this perfect world, LeBron James goes all-in and gives the Lakers the cap space to pursue small forward Nickeil Alexander-Walker, center Steven Adams, or shooting guard Bruce Brown for $14.1 million per year NT MLE.
For the $5.1 million per year BAE, the Lakers could be looking at vet players like the Spurs’ Chris Paul, Bucks Brook Lopez, Warriors’ Gary Payton II, 76ers’ Kelly Oubre, Jr., Celtics’ Luke Kornet, and Magic’s Goga Bitadze.
The Lakers should plan to use a solid and trustworthy 10-man rotation designed to empower players to play harder and more aggressively by reducing their minutes per game and the resulting body wear-and-tear.
NBA teams are going to have no choice but to copy Oklahoma City Thunder’s deep and diverse roster in order to compete. There’s no doubt the league is going to get younger, faster, and much more physical.
Rob Pelinka needs to be aggressive after mega trade and sign center Steven Adams to the $14.1 million per year NT MLE, Kelly Oubre, Jr. to the $5.1 million per year BAE, and Chris Paul to a veteran’s minimum contract.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
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The Lakers mega trade and great free agency summer could produce a championship caliber starting lineup of Doncic, White, Avdija, James, and Okongwu backed up by Paul, James, Jr., Oubre, Finney-Smith, and Adams.
The Lakers new starting lineup would not only be one of the strongest starting lineups in the entire league but their 10-man rotation would also qualify as one of the deepest and most diverse rotations in the NBA.
L.A.’s rotation rocks with Doncic and Paul at point guard, White and James, Jr. at shooting guard, Avdija and Oubre, Jr. at small forward, James and Finney-Smith at power forward, and Okongwu and Adams at center.
Whereas last season’s 9-man rotation was heavy with offense-first one-way players, the Lakers’ new 10-man rotation for 2025–26 boasts 9 legitimate two-way players plus a hopefully slimmer and better conditioned Luka.
Gone are other offense-only one-way players like Reaves, Hachimura, Hayes, Knecht, Milton, and Vincent and defense-only one-way players like Vanderbilt. Now the only one-way player left is superstar Luka Doncic.
One of the major goals of the Lakers’ offseason moves was to increase the team’s size advantage at all five positions. The result is the Lakers will have a significant positional size advantage at every one of the five positions.
The Lakers’ new championship caliber starting lineup will boast a 6′ 7″ point guard in Doncic, a 6′ 4″ shooting guard in White, a 6′ 9″ small forward in Avdija, a 6′ 9″ power forward in James, and a 6′ 10″ center in Okongwu.
The Los Angeles Lakers go all-in and trade for 3 elite new starters and, with LeBron James taking a major pay cut, sign 3 top quality unrestricted free agent backups to upgrade their 10-man rotation to championship caliber.
