Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce thinks that the Los Angeles Lakers should make a bold move and acquire Donovan Mitchell to make the team competitive.
“What I would do is, if I was the Lakers GM, you know who I would target? Donovan Mitchell has been a perfect fit,” Pierce said on Undisputed as he proceeded to explain why.
According to him, Mitchell does not want to stay in Cleveland, which makes him a trade candidate that the Purple and Gold should pursue.
“Cleveland is not going to extend him or he’s not looking for an extension with Cleveland,” he continued. “And the way this series is playing out with Orlando, if it don’t go well, he opts out or they trade him, he has one year left [on his contract], they’ll trade him because he doesn’t want to sign the extension.
“I’ll look to be trade partners with the Lakers, who can give them, if they want, D-Lo, [Austin] Reaves, or some draft picks, or something like that.”
Pierce thinks that adding Mitchell, who is 27, would open another window for the Lakers to chase a championship in remaining years of LeBron James’ career.
“Now you have a young Donovan Mitchell you can pair with Anthony Davis, who needs to be number two. He’s clearly the number two guy on a championship team. And Donovan Mitchell would take so much pressure of LeBron if he’s going to give them three years. Now your window is back open,” he said.
Pierce closed by saying that may not be necessarily what LeBron wants though. According to Pierce, James might as well focus solely on setting unreachable records.
This season Mitchell averaged 26.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists in 35.3 minutes per game.
