NBA championship runs have a way of creating odd partnerships, which could happen with the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James ahead of the 2025-26 trade deadline.
James is in the middle of his 23rd professional campaign. And while his greatness has limited the number of players who can cast themselves as his true rivals, the amount of legitimate antagonists James has cultivated over the course of his career is a considerably higher figure.
Among them, and perhaps the most prominent of the last few years, is Dillon Brooks. The on-again, off-again beef between James and Brooks stretches back to the latter’s days with the Memphis Grizzlies, but it has remained during Brooks’ time with the Houston Rockets and now the Phoenix Suns — rearing its head on multiple occasions this season alone.
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Somewhat ironically, though, Brooks fits the mold of the type of player Los Angeles could use. He is a defensive bulldog with a second-team All-Defense selection on his resumé (2022-23). Brooks relishes the challenge of guarding the opponent’s best player and prides himself on the ability to get under their skin in the process.
He’s also a career 35.4 percent 3-point shooter on 5.2 attempts per game, which means he can offer some spacing on offense and perimeter strength on defense simultaneously. Given Brooks’ skill set, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report named him as one of the top three targets the Lakers should pursue ahead of the early February trade deadline.
“Herb Jones or Dillon Brooks would outfit this team with the type of stopper who can propel it to a deeper playoff push,” Favale wrote on Thursday, January 1. “Both are also shaky spacers who will cost first-round goodies. Neither should torpedo the offense, but the Lakers aren’t a high volume or particularly efficient three-point-shooting squad. They have to consider that variable.”
L.A. would also need to consider how James, who just turned 41 years old, might receive Brooks as a teammate (and vice-versa), as well as what kind of dynamic that might cultivate inside the locker room. That said, the Lakers need to add a legitimate 3-and-D wing if they hope to contend atop the Western Conference, and a future first-round pick in either 2031 or 2032 is worth it for the right fit.
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