Due to the poor performance since the beginning of the season, the Lakers are currently active in the trading market, and they hope to return to a third scorer around Horton Tucker, Nunn and the 2027 first-round pick.
Judging from the current reports, the Lakers can be described as repeated setbacks, although they have listed a long list of trade targets, but no team is willing to give a third-scorer level player for a player like Horton Tucker.
Therefore, for the Lakers, instead of making unrealistic player reinforcement adjustments, it is better to try some small transactions to achieve lineup improvement.
In response to such a situation, the US media "Lakers Legacy Podcast" also gave two small transaction plans to help the Lakers exchange role players for second-round picks.
Judging from the potential support, it is entirely possible for the Lakers to achieve a perfect ending with two birds with one stone through these two plans.
Deal 1: The Lakers send Ellington and get a trade exception and a second-round pick from the Lone Ranger
Although Ellington did not get caught up in any rumors of a deal, if they could successfully get a second-round pick, the Lakers had no reason to reject the plan.
As a goal for the Lakers to improve their space capabilities in the offseason, Ellington has a good chance this season, averaging 19.6 minutes per game and shooting 1.8 three-pointers, shooting 38.1%.
But the problem is that the Lakers have too many players like Ellington who only have projection and no defense, and the Lakers have good reasons to get another defensive player, send Ellington away, and make a position, which can completely allow the Lakers to find treasure in the buyout market.
It's also a deal to consider for the Lone Rangers, as the team's three-point shooting performance this season has been extremely poor.
With just three players on the team shooting more than 36 percent, and only one of them shooting more than 37 percent from three-point range, they need more shooters to open up space for Doncic, especially after Hardaway Jr. was injured, and Ellington met that requirement.
And Ellington's offer is not high, the Lone Ranger has a second round pick in 2022, and a trading exception that can be used to balance salaries, the two teams are expected to achieve a situation where they need to take each other.
Deal two: The Lakers sent Bazemore away and got a second-round pick from the Bulls
If it had been at the start of the season, it would have been a completely unbelievable deal, as Bazemore's value simply wasn't worth the Bulls giving him a second-round pick.
But today, the Bulls have every reason to get Bazmore, as the team currently has no one on the back line.
Caruso fractured wrist, Ball is undergoing surgery to deal with a torn meniscus, and Derek Jones Jr. will be absent for at least two weeks due to a finger injury.
What's more, this season the Bulls have completed a big counterattack and become the big dark horse in the East, and they need more immediate combat power to help the team stay competitive.
Considering that Bazmore delivered a good performance last season with the Warriors, this is enough for the Bulls to bet, after all, due to the epidemic, the quality players in the free market have long been picked up by other teams.
Coupled with the fact that the Bulls did not have a second-round pick before 2026, it is also expected to prompt the Bulls to complete the deal, after all, the value of the second-round pick after 4 years will further decline, the Lakers on the one hand got the second-round pick, and more importantly, cleaned up Bazemore, convenient for follow-up operations.