Lakers & Blazers Trade for Rob Williams is LIKELY? | Lakers Trade Report + Include Matisse Thybulle?

Lakers & Blazers Trade for Rob Williams is LIKELY? | Lakers Trade Report + Include Matisse Thybulle?

[Music] You know, even after signing Marcus Smart, many Laker fans think the Lakers should and eventually will add more to their team. Maybe via the free agent market, though they would have to make a move first to offload some payroll off their team, maybe through the trade market, maybe eventually through the bio market. But whatever it might be, many fans want them to do that. And I guess it could be a possibility. And well, like we often talk about here on the channel, anytime a player gets linked to the Lakers, it usually doesn’t happen only once. Over time, it’ll happen two, three, even up to five to 10 times. And that’s once again happening with a player they have been linked to. That player being Robert Williams the third. And well, following the Portland Trailblazers adding more centers to their team, even while also getting rid of one, they obviously bought out the contract of DeAndre Aton, who then became a Laker, but then they drafted Yang Hansen, not to mention trading up quite a ways to get him. So, they obviously value him. Obviously have Don Mcllingan, who likely will now become their new starting center, still have Dop Breath, then of course have Rob Williams kind of behind all of them. So, in my opinion, yes, he definitely is on the trade block. In fact, I think he’s been on the trade block for quite some time now. Reports say that he might have been on the trade block dating back to the trade deadline. That coming from Brett Seagull of Clutch Points. The Athletic even reported around the trade deadline that the Lakers were in touch about him. Now, I’m not sure they made an official offer for him, but they obviously were in touch about him. And if it’s dating back to the trade deadline, not only this season, but even reports saying that about last year’s trade deadline dating back to 2024 here, then they obviously have some level of interest in him. So again, with that in mind here, could this finally be the time that they make a trade for him? His trade value is obviously pretty low coming off yet another injury-prone season. So is that maybe a gateway for them to get him for cheap or is it maybe too big of a red flag and they should stay away from him? Could it be a viable upgrade for their backup center over Jackson Hayes, giving him more competition and therefore maybe giving them another option? Maybe. We’ll talk about that. What it would take to get him, what the trade package or trade packages might look like, and simply if he would be a good option or not, in my opinion, of course. So, without further ado here, briefly talking about Rob Williams did last season and the time that he was off the court as we cannot forget to touch on that here. No matter what way you look at it, that’s the number one thing and number one concern with Rob Williams the third last season playing only 20 NBA games. Yes, only 20 out of a possible 82 during the 2023 24 NBA season only playing six. Yes, six even worse. Even dating back to 2022 23 only playing 35 games. So that amounts to a grand total of roughly 61 games in the past 3 years now. Obviously a gigantic red flag. Now he is only 27, so maybe there’s hope they could eventually become more durable. I mean, for his sake, I really hope so. I’d hate to see him play only 30 to even less games per year, not hit the 50 game mark, not show off what he can do on the court because he really is a very good player when he’s on the court. Obviously talking about his defense, rim protection, athletic ability. I mean, they call the guy time lord for a reason. Is an athletic freak for his position. Is 6’9 with a 7’6 wingspan. I’d imagine probably a near 40inch vertical to go with it. Great rim protector, great lob threat, switchable defender even at center. Truly can defend and switch one through five at on the court at times. And you can rely on him to be a good defensive option when he’s actually on the court. So in that regard, I would have interest if he could stay healthy. That’s the obvious issue with it. And you can never predict when or if he’ll get hurt. That’s the kind of thing I’d be worried about. And that’s why not give up a good trade package for him. Even with the reports about him dating back again to the 2024 NBA trade deadline, I rarely talk about him because it’s such a risk to trade for him. Again, yes, obvious upside here with him. I think he would be a defensive upgrade to Jackson A. I think he’d be a flatout upgrade over Jackson A for their backup center. But if you’re talking about availability, which is the best ability in regard to role players and pretty much any player for that fact, that’s something that Rob Williams really can’t offer that much of. So then translating that to actual trade talk and an actual trade package, I wouldn’t be willing to give up a very good one for Rob Williams. Again, like the guy and I think he’d be a decent fit, but if we’re talking about a trade package and trade value for him, it’s not very high and not worth very much in my opinion. And then to even factor on to that more, following the Lakers trading or actually waving both Shake Milton and Jordan Goodwin, they don’t have a minimum contract to combine with Gabe Vincent and Maxiba to make a trade work for Rob Williams. And no, we can’t trade either Gay Vincent or Maxi Cleba and actually make the trade work with the Lakers pushing that first apron and only being roughly 1 million below it. If they would trade Vincent or Kleba for Rob Williams, that would push them over that first apron, therefore making their team ineligible and pushing their payroll up too high. After they use both the tax fair mid-level and the banual exception, they have to stay below that first apron. So, if we’re going to trade for Rob Williams, we actually have to expand the trade. not only trade for himself, but then add another teammate with him, which in my opinion would actually be a pretty good thing and actually make a trade more viable for Rob Williams. As for myself, I’d look to add Matis Style, a player I’ve talked about plenty of times here on the channel and a player I think would be a great fit for the LA Lakers. I mean, for me personally, I think their biggest need left is a three-end wing, a legitimate two-way option on the wing that can defend and match up at least one through three. Again, I love the addition of Marcus Smart getting them a very good point of attack defensive option, even a smaller wing defender, a guy that can defend one through two and sometimes one through three, but they need a more true reliable wing defender option that can actually offer some three-point shooting too as Vanderbilt can’t exactly do the three-point shooting part. So expanding the trade here and what that might look like. Trading for both Rob Williams and Matise Styel. Then we can trade both Gabe Vincent, Maxi Feba and unfortunately I have to include Daltton Connect but actually be able to make the trade work financially. And yes, this might be a bit controversial. I’m not even saying I’d do this trade for sure. Simply showing you how the trade would actually work. And the only way they can really make a trade work for him, it would have to include Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kibba, and Dolan Connect. Now you might agree with it. It would give them an upgrade for their backup center when healthy of course with Rob Williams. Give them a legitimate 3 and option on the wing with Matis Cyel, a great defensive option, adding to their already improving and really good bench defensive unit with Marcus Smart and Jared Vanderbilt, then throwing in Matis Cybel in there or potentially to enter their starting lineup and move to Rehachima coming off the bench. This trade would also allow them to keep Himura and not to mention Austin Reeves and even a remainder of their trade assets after that point. Not trading a future verse on Drop Pick as they only have one of them to trade at this point. Not trading a future verse on Dropic Swap. And I still think this would be enough to get the trade done. Not really trading a real trade asset in Maxi Kleba or Gay Vincent. Maybe a little bit if you want to argue with Gay Vincent, but not a ton of trade value there with them. Apart from their expiring contracts, which is simply what rebuilding teams want or teams that have a bigger payroll on their team that they don’t really want. That’s the only value that they really carry at this point. Then with Daltton Connect, him kind of being a declining trade asset, you know, like I talked about the other day, reports say that his trade value dropped from a future first round draft pick to then a late future first round draft pick. Now to not even being worth a first round draft pick, that coming from Yoan Buha, so I guess believe it or don’t believe it if you want to, but reports and simply speculation does indicate that his trade value has gone down, not up over time. Overall, I think it might be a bit of a gamble for them. One that could be worth it, one that could also not be worth it. Obviously, the health of Rob Williams, I keep on repeating it and I really have keep on repeating it. When talking about a guy like himself, you literally can’t ignore it. Even for Matias Snyil has been a very durable player throughout his career, but then again, last season only played 15 games. So, maybe a little bit of risk there with him too. Then, with Rob Williams being a bit volatile in general, you know, there is some risk here. Even though we’re not trading a future first on Drop Pic, not even a future first on Dropic swap or let alone a second on Dropic, even trading a majority of our expiring contracts with Vincent and Cleba, then trading Dalton Connect, one of one of our few player trade assets, there is some risk here, and I wouldn’t call it the perfect trade by any means. It does give them a big need for their team with a 3 andd wing option like Matis Styel, a better option for their backup center. Maybe even a guy that can play a little bit of power forward on defense potentially pairing him with Jackson Hayes or pairing him with DeAndre. Definitely a very situational lineup and a very matchup dependent one. But Rob Williams is versatile. Matis Sty is versatile. Would give them an upgrade. And I guess you can kind of come to that conclusion on your own. If he’ll be worth it, if they’re good trade targets, if Rob Williams should even be linked to their team, and if they should even have any interest in trading for him at all. That’s kind of up for debate here. You know, ideally, I’d love to see him get bought out and the Lakers get another center from Portland via contract buyout. Of course, getting DeAndan via that route. So maybe it’s a possibility, but I don’t find it very likely. Even with his injury history, even with his trade value being pretty low, even with him having two centers that are probably both ahead of him at this point at the bare minimum giving him more competition, I still don’t find it very likely. Would absolutely love for it to happen. But even if it would, there is no guarantee he would join their team after that point, plenty of other options. And with the Lakers having both DeAndre Aton and Jackson A and even Mexica at this point, there would be some competition for him and therefore not a direct pathway to plank time. But with all of that being said, what do you guys think? How do you feel about the Rob Williams trade option? Would you think about making a trade for him? Do you think it would be worth it even with the expanded trade package idea of Matis Cable with him? Or would you completely ignore it and not even think about trading for him because of the risk with him? Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below. But I think that’ll pretty much do it for this one. And if you enjoyed the video, then I’ll greatly appreciate it if you dropped a like, subscribe to the channel if you have not already, and hit that notification bell to never miss out when I upload a video. But as always, thank you for watching and have a great day or night. [Music]

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