The Trade The Lakers Should Make Before The Deadline

The NBA trade deadline is just a little over a month away (February 8) and it's no secret the Lakers are actively looking to trade one (maybe two) of their young, up and coming talents in the hopes to bring in a marquee star to Hollywood.  Here is one trade the Lakers should try to pull off as soon as possible.

Lakers Get:      Paul George and Jerami Grant from the Oklahoma City Thunder

Thunder Get:   Julius Randle and Luol Deng

Will the financials work?  Based on ESPN's NBA Trade Machine, the trade is financially feasible.

Why make the trade?

Paul George is currently a hired gun in Oklahoma City since being acquired from Indiana in an off season trade for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.  He has made it clear before being traded to the Thunder that he wanted to go home and play for his favorite childhood team, the Lakers and will be a Free Agent at season's end.  The Thunder organization run the risk of getting nothing back for George which will be a huge setback given Oladipo's success in Indiana.

The OKC Big 3 experiment hasn't panned out as expected.  The Thunder are quickly realizing that the trade for Carmelo Anthony has left glaring gaps in their team (rebounding, defense and bench production in particular) with minimal gains in offensive firepower given the Big 3's struggles to efficiently share the scoring load.

Given the issues around the OKC Big 3, Carmelo Anthony's time with the Thunder may be short lived as he may look to form a new Big 3 with "Banana Boat" buddy Chris Paul in Houston or join Lebron James wherever he decides to play next year.  The Thunder will be in need of a Power Forward to replace Anthony.  

Lakers Power Forward and sometimes small line-up Center, Julius Randle is a RFA in the offseason and is expected to receive lucrative offer sheets which many believe will be above his true value as a player which the Lakers won't be unwilling to pay.  Along with the backlog in PF's in the Lakers' roster, Randle has become the odd man out in the Lakers long term plans.

Randle's aggressive, attack the basket mentality can fit in well with Russell Westbrook's similar style of play.  Julius will be the recipient of numerous drop passes as Russell draws defenses and opens up attacking lanes and will address OKC team gaps (rebounding and post defense) made by the trade of Enes Kanter to the New York Knicks.  The Thunder will need to swallow Luol Deng's contract in this deal but with Paul George's departure, Deng is a decent fill-in at the Small Forward position since he is still a capable player and may contribute to better team balance.

Odd men out but both Deng and Grant will benefit from the change in teams

No doubt the Lakers will miss Julius Randle and his blossoming star level of play but given the team's roster of players, Julius is at a disadvantage given the limited number of minutes he can spend on the court to realize his full potential.  This trade, if executed, will be a win-win for both teams (and players) involved.