Finding a new place to look for L.A.’s needed upgrades on defense 

The Los Angeles Lakers head into NBA trade season with a clear directive. Sniff out the fix for their 20th-ranked defense, per NBA.com, and, considering the caliber of this club’s offensive weapons, maybe L.A. has a championship parade to plan next summer.

The names most commonly cited as potential fixes are well known by now: Herb Jones on the high (perhaps unaffordable) end, and Keon Ellis on the lower end. But what if I told you the Lakers could solve this search without even having to look outside of the L.A. city limits?

Because if the colossally disappointing Los Angeles Clippers are willing to accept their fate as a high-priced, historically aged failure, they could have exactly what the Lakers need.

Perimeter stoppers could unlock the Lakers’ full potential.

The Lakers can score with anyone. That should be obvious by now. Luka Doncic is currently on course to collect his second scoring title. Austin Reaves is bucket-ing his way toward his first All-Star selection. And folks who fired off spicy takes about LeBron James’ age-related decline look foolish every time he strength-and-smarts his way to another 25-point outburst (three in nine games so far).

All of that said, even an attack as high-powered as this would have trouble following an offense-only road map to the NBA Finals. The Lakers will need actual stoppers to prevent postseason opponents from catching fire, and this deal would deliver exactly that.

Jones is an all-purpose disruptor who can fly around anywhere on the perimeter. Dunn is the point-of-attack pest this roster so clearly lacks. And they aren’t just good in the point-prevention side of defensive, either. Both are certified playmakers on that end, with Dunn averaging better than 1.5 steals and Jones supplies more than a block per outing from the small forward spot—all while neither is logging even 27 minutes a night.

That ability to generate live-ball stops is big, because that can help fuel what probably should be a prolific transition attack but hasn’t actually been one (26th in fast-break points). The mere idea of Doncic or Reaves leading the break while the other spaces off-ball and James goes hard-charging to the basket is nightmare fuel for opposing coaches.

And this hasn’t even addressed the half-court benefits of having Jones and Dunn around on offense. Between Jones’ finishing, Dunn’s playmaking, and the fact both are adequate shooters (34-plus percent from three), they’d have ways of enhancing L.A.’s greatest strength—while also directly addressing its biggest deficiency.

If there’s a question here, it’s one of affordability. If the Clippers do hit the reset button, maybe they’d be looking for more assets than the Lakers can provide.

Then again, Jones and Dunn are both support pieces but certainly not needle-movers, so the asking price can only climb so high. Plus, if the Clippers have Knecht believers in the front office, they might think they’re getting two valuable assets in exchange for two veteran role players. That’s good basketball business.

The cost would not be insignificant for the Lakers, but there’s always a price to pay for upgrades. And with a championship goal feeling closer to realistic than overly optimistic, there’s justification to make that sacrifice, too.