Trade Lookback: Lakers-Kings
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 6:07 pm
Original Trade: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=6034
Thought it would be interesting to look back at this trade because at the time it generated a lot of discussion. The Lakers stewards sent the #1 overall pick and Jamey Brown to the Kings for the #3 and #5 overall picks. I thought it would be fun to follow up on that trade and see what became of it.
The picks turned into Erik Haynes for the Kings and Alvin Briseno and Damion Williams for the Lakers.
So let's take a look at how this trade worked out for both sides.
LAKERS
Alvin Briseno - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player146.htm
After playing part-time his first three seasons, Briseno seems to be on track for a breakout year in his fourth season. He's averaging 21 points, 10 boards, and 2.7 blocks - very solid numbers for a power player - while shooting 61% from the field. His PER the last couple of seasons (albeit with his minutes somewhat limited due to the Lakers' big man rotation) has been 21 or above both seasons.
Damion Williams - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player55.htm
Williams has turned into a scoring monster this season, averaging 29.6 points so far and turning into a prolific three-point shooter (39% on over 8 threes per game and 47% overall). He looks like he has made the jump from a solid scorer to a scoring machine; while he was good for almost 20 points per game the last couple of seasons, it seems like he has suddenly found his scoring groove.
KINGS
Erik Haynes - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player179.htm
Haynes has also made a noticeable jump and is having a very solid season averaging 18.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, and 2.4 bpg on 63.5% shooting(!) for the Kings. He has been the model of efficiency and with his great 7 foot 2 inch frame teams with Bismack Biyombo to give the Kings an extremely tight defense (ranked #2 overall at the moment in defending opponent's field goal percentage). The Lakers, meanwhile, rank #9.
HOW DID THE LAKERS MAKE OUT?
It's rare that trading a #1 overall pick works out for a team, but it looks like the Lakers may well have made this trade work for them. Williams is lighting things up and, at least statistically, Briseno is no worse than as good - and could be slightly better - than Haynes to this point. For certain they have two high-grade borderline all-star starters, and getting two potential all stars from one pick is really good.
HOW DID THE KINGS MAKE OUT?
Well... we have to look at things in full context. The one piece of the trade we didn't analyze was Jamey Brown. Later in the year the original trade was made, the Kings packaged Ronald Small and Jamey Brown for Donovan Mitchell. viewtopic.php?f=24&t=6220&p=54110#p54110 - so we have to take that piece into consideration as well.
Ronald Small - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player84.htm
Small is averaging 15.8 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apg, and 1.5 spg on 44% shooting this year, and he DID just help the Bucks to a championship ring. But he hit his big RFA payday a couple of seasons ago which would have limited the Kings' flexibility, and with Jeffrey Duren taking the reins at point guard, you have to wonder if Small would have altered the way the Kings' offense runs.
Donovan Mitchell - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player67.htm
Mitchell is putting up 16.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.9 apg, and 1 spg while shooting 50% from the floor (and 54% from three). He seems to be a much more efficient and productive player than Small, and he hasn't hit RFA yet, so he's cost-controlled this season. His shooting was nearly as good last season so there's no reason to believe it will be a fluke.
WELL, WIG, QUIT STALLING - HOW DID THE KINGS MAKE OUT?
Essentially, the Kings traded Briseno, Williams, and Small for Haynes and Mitchell and used the cap savings (and position on the floor) to replace what they would have gotten from Mitchell's position with Tobias Harris so they essentially traded away 66.4 ppg/17.6 rpg/10.0 apg/2.8 spg/3.7 bpg to get 50.2 ppg/21.6 rpg/11.2 apg/1.7 spg/2.5 bpg. It's not exacly lopsided; they gave away some scoring, steals, and blocks but got better rebounding and passing (and opened up more touches for Duren). I'd probably have to say it is about a wash at this point for the Kings.
Of course, all of this analysis doesn't know what's going to happen as these players continue to grow. But I think by this point we can look back at the trade and say the Lakers, at the very least, didn't get screwed and may have actually made out very well given their assets. The Kings, by virtue of flipping Jamey Brown and Ronald Small, made this trade a little tougher to assess definitely increased their productivity in some key areas. They also had the chance to go chase free agents as well, so there's that benefit.
These four players (Haynes, Mitchell, Briseno, Williams) will be forever linked not just because they were in the same draft class, but because they were involved (Mitchell tangentially) in one of the biggest draft-day trades we've seen in the league for a while. As they are coming up on RFA this offseason, it is interesting to see how things have played out so far. At the risk of cliche' it might be one of those trades that was good for both teams.
Thought it would be interesting to look back at this trade because at the time it generated a lot of discussion. The Lakers stewards sent the #1 overall pick and Jamey Brown to the Kings for the #3 and #5 overall picks. I thought it would be fun to follow up on that trade and see what became of it.
The picks turned into Erik Haynes for the Kings and Alvin Briseno and Damion Williams for the Lakers.
So let's take a look at how this trade worked out for both sides.
LAKERS
Alvin Briseno - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player146.htm
After playing part-time his first three seasons, Briseno seems to be on track for a breakout year in his fourth season. He's averaging 21 points, 10 boards, and 2.7 blocks - very solid numbers for a power player - while shooting 61% from the field. His PER the last couple of seasons (albeit with his minutes somewhat limited due to the Lakers' big man rotation) has been 21 or above both seasons.
Damion Williams - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player55.htm
Williams has turned into a scoring monster this season, averaging 29.6 points so far and turning into a prolific three-point shooter (39% on over 8 threes per game and 47% overall). He looks like he has made the jump from a solid scorer to a scoring machine; while he was good for almost 20 points per game the last couple of seasons, it seems like he has suddenly found his scoring groove.
KINGS
Erik Haynes - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player179.htm
Haynes has also made a noticeable jump and is having a very solid season averaging 18.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, and 2.4 bpg on 63.5% shooting(!) for the Kings. He has been the model of efficiency and with his great 7 foot 2 inch frame teams with Bismack Biyombo to give the Kings an extremely tight defense (ranked #2 overall at the moment in defending opponent's field goal percentage). The Lakers, meanwhile, rank #9.
HOW DID THE LAKERS MAKE OUT?
It's rare that trading a #1 overall pick works out for a team, but it looks like the Lakers may well have made this trade work for them. Williams is lighting things up and, at least statistically, Briseno is no worse than as good - and could be slightly better - than Haynes to this point. For certain they have two high-grade borderline all-star starters, and getting two potential all stars from one pick is really good.
HOW DID THE KINGS MAKE OUT?
Well... we have to look at things in full context. The one piece of the trade we didn't analyze was Jamey Brown. Later in the year the original trade was made, the Kings packaged Ronald Small and Jamey Brown for Donovan Mitchell. viewtopic.php?f=24&t=6220&p=54110#p54110 - so we have to take that piece into consideration as well.
Ronald Small - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player84.htm
Small is averaging 15.8 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apg, and 1.5 spg on 44% shooting this year, and he DID just help the Bucks to a championship ring. But he hit his big RFA payday a couple of seasons ago which would have limited the Kings' flexibility, and with Jeffrey Duren taking the reins at point guard, you have to wonder if Small would have altered the way the Kings' offense runs.
Donovan Mitchell - http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player67.htm
Mitchell is putting up 16.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.9 apg, and 1 spg while shooting 50% from the floor (and 54% from three). He seems to be a much more efficient and productive player than Small, and he hasn't hit RFA yet, so he's cost-controlled this season. His shooting was nearly as good last season so there's no reason to believe it will be a fluke.
WELL, WIG, QUIT STALLING - HOW DID THE KINGS MAKE OUT?
Essentially, the Kings traded Briseno, Williams, and Small for Haynes and Mitchell and used the cap savings (and position on the floor) to replace what they would have gotten from Mitchell's position with Tobias Harris so they essentially traded away 66.4 ppg/17.6 rpg/10.0 apg/2.8 spg/3.7 bpg to get 50.2 ppg/21.6 rpg/11.2 apg/1.7 spg/2.5 bpg. It's not exacly lopsided; they gave away some scoring, steals, and blocks but got better rebounding and passing (and opened up more touches for Duren). I'd probably have to say it is about a wash at this point for the Kings.
Of course, all of this analysis doesn't know what's going to happen as these players continue to grow. But I think by this point we can look back at the trade and say the Lakers, at the very least, didn't get screwed and may have actually made out very well given their assets. The Kings, by virtue of flipping Jamey Brown and Ronald Small, made this trade a little tougher to assess definitely increased their productivity in some key areas. They also had the chance to go chase free agents as well, so there's that benefit.
These four players (Haynes, Mitchell, Briseno, Williams) will be forever linked not just because they were in the same draft class, but because they were involved (Mitchell tangentially) in one of the biggest draft-day trades we've seen in the league for a while. As they are coming up on RFA this offseason, it is interesting to see how things have played out so far. At the risk of cliche' it might be one of those trades that was good for both teams.