The Los Angeles Lakers were bounced out of the first round of the playoffs despite having a trio of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves. While everything worked out great for the Lakers initially, after the Doncic trade from Anthony Davis, the playoffs are a different type of ball game altogether. A team needs defense, shooting, and bench production in the postseason to have any kind of success in the playoffs, and Lakers did not have any of that. Apart from Doncic and James, every other Laker that played did not produce consistently enough, and that cost them the series. Head coach JJ Redick’s lack of trust in his role players was also a huge factor as to why the Lakers were nearly swept in the first round.
So going into the offseason, there’s a lot of problems that needs to be addressed for the Lakers. One of the biggest is their lack of size in their lineup, as that disadvantage was clearly exposed in the playoffs. However, what the Lakers do have in surplus, is the amount of playmakers in the team. James, Doncic, and Reaves are all ball dominant players, and that was clearly a problem in the series against Minnesota. Prior to the Doncic trade, things worked fine for the Lakers as Austin Reaves or James controlled most of the offense. However, now that Doncic is a part of the roster, the Lakers need more of a pure scorer and there is no better target than this Grizzlies’ guard. Let’s find out who that is.
Desmond Bane currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, and is one of the most essential pieces for Memphis. However, the Grizzlies have been struggling as of late, and even after all these years, they haven’t been to the Western Conference Finals so far. The Thunder, in the first round series against the Grizzlies, made quick work of them as Memphis was swept in the first round. While they are no confirmed reports as of yet, but we expect the Grizzlies to be active in the offseason this year. And that means that the Grizzlies may agree to give away Bane, is the returns are just right.
The Lakers need a scorer who can pose an inside-out threat, and Bane could be the perfect fit. The Lakers can include Austin Reaves in the trade block which means that they could package together Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Shake Milton, for the All-Star Guard in Desmond Bane. While they’ll lose Reaves in the process, but the Lakers already have two ball dominant players and floor generals, and there is no need to keep another.
Bane averaged 19.2 points in the 2024-25 season, on 48.4 percent shooting from the field, 39.2 percent from three point range, and dished out 5.3 assists per game, and 6.1 boards. Bane is also an upgrade defensively, as he averaged 1.2 steals per game this season. If Bane were to arrive at Los Angeles, that could perhaps boost the Lakers’ offense, and give them the perimeter defense to go along. However, as we all know, the Lakers’ biggest priority this offseason is front court players with size and length first, before moving into guard play.
