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NBA Trade Rumors: Will Lakers, 76ers Make Franchise Changing Trades?

By Stephen Forsha
Published on: 07:03 PST, Jan 29, 2017

February is getting closer and closer, but for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers, they are in the midst of even making a decision that could affect their respective NBA franchises for the foreseeable futures. Both the Lakers and 76ers are speculated in many NBA trade rumors, though the question remains: is this the right time for them to make a move?

With the Lakers, they are next to last place in the Western Conference with a 16-34 record entering Sunday, and after losing three straight games, this has all but become a scouting season for the Lakers. It is time to see what the Lakers have on their roster and for their front office to start deciding for the offseason what steps they need to take to continue their rebuild back to the top spot of the NBA.

The Lakers have a nice young core of players on their roster, but it is more than evident the pieces aren’t all on the roster just yet. It is going to take some work to figure out what the next move will be as the Lakers are currently 8-23 within the Western Conference, but are nearly 0.500 at home with an 11-13 mark.

One player the Lakers could part ways with during this rebuild is 30-year old Lou Williams. He leads the Lakers in scoring and has been a part of some NBA trade rumors. For a team looking to make a playoff push or to secure their spot in the playoffs, Williams is a player the Lakers could afford to trade and not sacrifice their future.

This NBA season is a wash for the Lakers, so this is a great time to see how all the young players can handle the rest of this season, to see if any of them can grow into the leader the Lakers will need for future success. Williams is a solid player, but he could help the Lakers more via trade.

Now for the 76ers, their rebuild is ahead of the Lakers, and they have players who are a little more ready to be in the NBA compared to the Lakers in certain aspects. Philadelphia has an NBA record under 0.500 as well at 17-28 overall, but they’ve hit a hot streak as of late since Jan. 8.

In that span of games since Jan. 8 the 76ers are 8-3 and have moved to within six wins of the eighth-place Charlotte Hornets in the Eastern Conference.

The 76ers have had issues of inconsistency this NBA season, and that is due to their lack of a complete roster. Sure the 76ers have some nice pieces in Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, but one of those will eventually have to be the odd man out so the 76ers can add to their roster in other areas other than three big men.

One idea for the Lakers and 76ers to make a deal could be a trade with each other. The Lakers could trade Williams to the 76ers for Okafor as the Lakers could use an upgrade at center and the 76ers the same at guard, leaving both in a win-win situation.

Both the Lakers and 76ers might have to add another extra player in the deal, but this is just one idea. If that trade were to occur then, the Lakers could trade Timofey Mozgov, though with his four-year, $64 contract he could be tough to make a trade to deal with another NBA franchise.

In all it seems unlikely that either will be making a trade that will wow anyone, but if any players are to be involved in any NBA trade for the Lakers or 76ers it would most likely be Williams, Okafor or even Mozgov if a team were to take over part of his large contract in a playoff push.

The time from now until the NBA trade deadline on Thursday, Feb. 23 the Lakers and 76ers will be talked about a lot, so until then it will be interesting, to say the least, where speculation will lead as both continue to build for the future.

[Featured Image by Harry How/Getty Images]

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