The Los Angeles Lakers lack perimeter defense and high-end athleticism at the wing position, which is arguably the roster’s biggest weakness and has informed the team’s needs on the mid-season NBA trade market.
One name that has been bandied about more than perhaps any other is that of New Orleans Pelicans forward Herb Jones. But while several analysts have suggested and/or speculated that Jones would be a good fit in L.A., Chris Haynes reported that the Lakers have already reached out and begun discussions with New Orleans about acquiring the 27-year-old wing.
“Those are calls … that the Lakers have made to New Orleans,” Haynes said on the Sunday, December 14 edition of “The Kevin O’Connor Show.”
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Jones is earning $21 million in 2025-26 in the first season of a three-year deal worth a total of $67.6 million. That number is low enough that Los Angeles shouldn’t have much trouble cobbling together a package of expiring player contracts to send the Pelicans’ way, which will allow New Orleans to clear that figure off its cap for next year and create room to bring in its free agent of choice.
Where the details will matter more is on the draft compensation the Lakers send the Pelicans in return for Jones. Los Angeles has five first-round pick swaps to trade, but those will carry essentially no value to a New Orleans team that is among the most likely franchises to finish with the worst record in the league this year. And while the Pelicans have some young talent, they don’t profile as a winning organization for multiple seasons into the future.
Thus, the Lakers will almost certainly have to include the sole first-round pick they can deal ahead of the early-February deadline if they want to land Jones. L.A. can send New Orleans a first-round asset in either 2031 or 2032.
That also means that Jones will be the Lakers’ premier in-season acquisition, as they won’t have much else of real value to dangle in trades for win-now types of players. But that should be okay with the Lakers, as the 6-foot-7 Jones fills a glaring roster hole.
He earned a spot on the All-NBA Defensive First Team in 2023-24, the last time he played enough games to qualify for NBA accolades. Jones also came in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting that season. Jones is a 36.5 percent career 3-point shooter on approximately three attempts per game.
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