The Los Angeles Lakers are bound to be active this offseason, especially with the new ownership change. The team doesn’t have a ton of assets, but they have contracts that can be moved.
Maxi Kleber was brought over in the Luka Doncic trade, but injury issues kept him out until the playoffs, where he was only able to play limited minutes. He’s due $11 million next season, so he could salary filler for a potential trade.
Dan Favale of Bleacher Report named Kleber as the Lakers player most likely to get traded this offseason.
“Unless Austin Reaves is on the table, outgoing players are unlikely to account for much of the value in any package. The Lakers will view most contracts as a vehicle to match money alongside draft equity and Dalton Knecht,” Favale wrote. “To that end, Knecht himself could be the answer. But he makes so little that he almost certainly won’t be moved on his own if Los Angeles is swinging for someone making more than rookie-scale money.
“Kleber wins out as a result. The Lakers need big men, and his fully healthy profile of a tall human who moves his feet on defense and provides some offensive dynamism holds plenty of appeal. But he’s about to enter his age-34 season, is rarely healthy and is unlikely to shoulder a higher minutes workload even when he’s available.”
Could Kleber Have Value to Lakers?
Kleber isn’t a player who is going to get the Lakers any big assets. He would mostly just be used to make salaries work. He’s not elite at any one aspect of the game, but he’s a solid 3-point shooter and has good size.
The Lakers can’t afford to lose size, so they should only trade Kleber if he’s used to help add another center.
Markieff Morris Doesn’t Think Lakers Need to Make Big Changes
Markieff Morris was another player who was part of the Doncic trade, but he’s going to be a free agent. Though he was only with the Lakers briefly this season, he thinks the team is close to being a contender without having to make any big moves.
“I think ultimately, Luka does re-sign. Now, is it four years? Is it two years? But, ultimately, I think he will be there,” Morris said on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “What I think they need to make happen to the roster, I think it’s minor tweaks. You’re in a position where LeBron has maybe two years left and he’s trying to win right now, so I don’t think bringing in a ton of new pieces and revamping the team makes a lot of sense.
“I think where they were this year, we were really close to winning, so it’s just minor tweaks. You may get a big in there, but I don’t think you move core pieces to get a big and mess the team up. When it reality, you only really need one big for the big fella in Joker, to be able to get to the Finals. So I don’t think you want to put too much into that. I think you come back with the same core pieces and you just add maybe a big and you keep growing your team through working them out and trying to figure out what’s the next steps.”
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