The Los Angeles Lakers are currently on a four-game losing streak after dropping five of their last six games. The Lakers, who are currently one game ahead of the Golden State Warriors in 10th place in the Western Conference, were pushing for a spot in the top four before this 1–5 run. There are too many good teams in the West to risk their spots in the top 10, and if the Warriors are successful, one of the current teams will inevitably struggle.
The Lakers’ offensive performance has been a major source of worry. With an offensive rating of 112.2 this year, they are among the NBA’s bottom five. They require quick assistance with scoring, especially.
The Jazz, who lost both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell in 2022, are still very much in a transitional stage. Lauri Markkanen was too good for them to be in the running for Victor Wembanyama, so the team will need to keep developing their young players. As the young players begin to take over this team, they have made three wise draft selections this season and may add a 2023 Draft prospect to their lineup.
The Lakers haven’t included Jalen Hood-Schifino in their rotation this year. With what they want to accomplish, the team just cannot afford to develop a rookie point guard. The Lakers could give the Jazz his upside in exchange for him rather than storing him away while he develops because the Jazz have the flexibility
was seen as a high-potential selection, so perhaps the Jazz can extract that from him.
They can also acquire a seasoned guard like Gabe Vincent to keep the players in check in the interim. The Jazz could find another team willing to take him on for more assets given his playoff experience. Sexton has performed well for the Jazz, but considering his 23.2 minutes per game this season, he doesn’t seem to be a major component of their rebuild. They would benefit if they moved on from him for assets.