Three-Way Deal Between LA, NY and Utah: Which Side Says No?

The best-case scenario for New York has always been flipping Julius Randle to a third party in exchange for draft capital and rerouting those picks to the Jazz.

As I discussed earlier today, the KD domino falling impacts teams across the country, from South Beach to Long Beach. 

The Los Angeles Lakers had reportedly been trying to pry Kyrie Irving from Brooklyn in exchange for Russell Westbrook and a future first-rounder. Now that Durant is headed back to Brooklyn for at least one more season, it certainly seems safe to assume Irving will spend the full 2022-23 campaign alongside his buddy, KD. 

With Irving off the table, will the Lakers finally engage with Indiana on the long-rumored deal involving Myles Turner and Buddy Heild for Westbrook and picks? Or might LeBron and company prefer a burly, high-scoring power forward? Julius Randle, who was originally drafted by the Lakers, could provide the Lakers with so much-needed offensive punch.

After the Durant News broke, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that LA is "open to anything that'll make their team better." Interestingly, Shams mentioned two members of the Utah Jazz by name - Patrick Beverley or Bojan Bogdanovic - as players to “keep an eye on.”

“If you can go get two, three rotation players to plug onto your team, kind of get better with the sum of your parts,” said Shams on the Pat McAfee Show, “those are the types of moves I think you're gonna see the Lakers try to make.”

Which got me thinking and forced me to break out the ESPN Trade Machine. So, hear me out, which side says “no” to this hypothetical three-team blockbuster:

The Knicks trade away:
Julius Randle, Cam Reddish, Deuce McBride, Rokas Jokubaitis and their 2023 first-round pick (unprotected), their 2025 first-round pick (unprotected), a 2026 first-round pick swap (top-ten protected), their 2027 first-round pick (unprotected), the Pistons (protected) 2023 first-round draft pick, the Bucks 2025 (protected) first-round draft pick.

The Knicks receive:
Donovan Micthell and Rudy Gay

The Lakers trade away:
Russell Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker, their 2027 first-round draft pick (top-3 protected) and their 2029 first-round draft pick (top-10 protected)

The Lakers receive:
Julius Randle, Bojan Bogdanovic, Patrick Beverley and Jordan Clarkson.

The Jazz trade away:
Donovan Micthell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Patrick Beverley, Rudy Gay and Jordan Clarkson.

The Jazz receive: 
Talen Horton-Tucker, Russell Westbook (to be bought out), Cam Reddish, Deuce McBride, Rokas Jokubaitis, the Lakers' 2027 first-round draft pick (top-3 protected), the Lakers' 2029 first-round draft pick (top-10 protected), NY’s 2023 first-round pick (unprotected), NY 2025 first-round pick (unprotected), NY 2026 first-round pick swap (top-ten protected), NY’s 2027 first-round pick (unprotected), the Pistons (protected) 2023 first-round draft pick owned by NY, the Bucks 2025 (protected) first-round draft pick owned by NY

🏀Why it makes sense for the Knicks:

As I’ve written previously, the ideal, best-case scenario for New York has always been flipping either Evan Fournier or (preferably) Randle to a third party in exchange for draft capital and rerouting those picks to the Jazz. This would help the Knicks clear up cap space and avoid a potential logjam at certain positions while enabling New York to hold onto their promising prospects. It’s been reported that Utah has no interest in Randle, and understandably so, as his four-year $100+ million extension is about to kick in. 

Trading Randle to LA would not only prevent the Knicks from including all their future picks but would also enable New York to hold onto all three of their prized youngster (Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes). In addition, trading Randle would open up a spot in the starting lineup for Toppin, a former lottery pick who showed flashes of enticing upside late last season. Rudy Gay could serve as a quality backup at forward. (As an aside, I’d also predict Carmelo Anthony returning to New York to provide some depth upfront before retiring as a Knick.) 

🏀 Why it makes sense for the Lakers:

After LeBron James signed a two-year extension worth $97 million with the Lakers last week, NBA insider Marc Stein reported that LA’s VP of basketball operations, Rob Pelinka, "assured" LeBron that the Lakers front office is willing to part with their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks. "L.A. has pledged to James that it will indeed continue to aggressively pursue upgrades,” Stein wrote in his Substack. “League sources say James, in fact, has been assured that the Lakers are willing to trade both of their available future first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 if a trade that costs them both picks can realistically position the Lakers to return to contender status."

So, what’s the best return LA could get for a pack of Russ and two future first-rounders? Is it the aforementioned deal with Indiana involving Turner and Heild? What else might other teams be willing to pony up if the Lakers let it be known the two picks are up for grabs? 

This hypothetical three-way would be appealing to the Lakers for several reasons. First, it would give them an incredible infusion of veteran depth and talent. LA crumbled last season whenever LeBron and/or Anthony Davis missed time. 

Even in a "down year" in 2021-22, Randle averaged 20.1 points, 9.9 boards and 5.1 dimes. The only players to exceed those numbers in each category last season were Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Randle is just 27 years old and squarely in the heart of his prime. Bogdanovic is entering his age-33 season but is still an elite shooter. Over his past four seasons, Bogey averaged 18.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 made three-pointers, while shooting a scorching 40.3% from downtown and 86% from the free-throw line. (If the Lakers would prefer Evan Fournier instead of Bogdanovic, New York would likely be amenable to including him in the deal.) Pat Beverley would be a massive upgrade defensively over Westbrook at point guard and provide some much-needed toughness on the perimeter. Jordan Clarkson, also a former Laker, is just one year removed from being named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the year after averaging 18.3 points per game to go along with 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 2020-21. 

Being able to place some light protections on their future first would undoubtedly appeal to LA. In addition, both Bogey and Beverley are expiring contracts, which would allow the Lakers to clear $33 million off their cap sheet next summer if they allowed both players to walk. Ultimately, this deal might come down to how much faith the Lakers have in Randle and how willing they are to go “all-in” while LeBron is still playing at a very high level. 

🏀 Why it makes sense for Utah:

Earlier this month, HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reported that the Lakers discussed a three-team swap with the Jazz and Knicks. Scotto noted the structure was similar to this hypothetical deal. At this point, it seems unlikely that Danny Ainge will be able to recoup the historic haul he was hoping for by trading away Donovan Micthell, a 25-year-old three-time All-Star with three years left on his current contract. Ainge has been unwilling to get New York to cave on his exorbitant asking price, and other teams have thus far been reluctant to give up the farm. 

Yes, Ainge could hold onto Mitchell and look to trade him at the deadline or next summer, but entering the season with Mitchell on the roster is a risky play by Ainge for multiple reasons. Having an All-Star in uniform dramatically increases the chances Utah hangs around .500, which decreases Utah's chances of landing a top lottery pick and a chance at Victor Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson, the prize jewels of the 2023 draft class. 

Once Ainge trades Mitchell, he’ll obviously look to move Bogey and Beverly as well. The question he’d have to ask himself is whether he could get more in separate deals as opposed to packaging all three together.

In this proposed three-way deal with LA and New York, Ainge could walk away with seven future first-round picks (three of them unprotected), a pick swap, and several promising young players. All told, while it may be slightly less than Ainge was hoping for, that’s a massive return that would position Utah very well going forward. 

Looking at the offseason as a whole, Ainge would be able to tell Utah fans that he traded five players (Mitchell, Bogey, Clarkson, Royce O’Neal and Rudy Gobert) from a Jazz team that won only two playoff games last season in exchange for twelve (12!) future first-round picks (six of them unprotected!) and two pick swaps, and Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish, Deuce McBride, Talen Horton-Tucker, Leandro Bolmaro (the 23rd pick in the 2020 draft) and Walker Kessler (the 22nd overall pick in the 2022 draft). 

The majority of those future first-rounders (and all six of the unprotected picks) would be via New York and Minnesota, the two teams with the worst winning percentages this century.