Should Lakers Pursue Buddy Hield, Eric Gordon amid Kyrie Irving Trade Rumors?

After adding the likes of Lonnie Walker IV, Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant in NBA free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers remain in the market for more upgrades.

Where they'll find that upgrade is unclear—though, it could seemingly arrive by way of the trade market. Kyrie Irving is on the radar, but he reportedly isn't the only high-powered perimeter player under consideration.

"They've looked at other deals," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said Wednesday on NBA Today. "They continue, I know, to check in on Eric Gordon in Houston. That's certainly a player that interests them. A Buddy Hield in Indiana ... So the Lakers are looking at different scenarios in the marketplace, but there's no question Kyrie Irving is one of them."

While there are similarities between the three—all offensive-minded, all above-average shooters—there are enough differences to help decide which would be the best fit.

While all modern NBA offenses need proper spacing, the Lakers are hurting for it more than most. Last season's group finished 18th in three-pointers (12 per game) and 22nd in three-point percentage (34.7), and it's unclear if this group will fare any better.

Buddy Hield could virtually guarantee that it will.

He is a dead-eye marksman from distance who impresses both with quantity and quality. Over the past four seasons, he's been good for 3.6 triples on 39.4 percent shooting every night. Get him to L.A., and he could be the release valve that helps unlock attack lanes for LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.

Having said that, Hield is essentially a long-range specialist—he offers a pinch more shot-creation than that label implies, but that isn't a go-to skill—and he could hurt a defense that already suffered from too many perimeter leaks.

Eric Gordon is the best two-way player of the three. If you wanted to argue for him being the most suitable option, there's no better place to start your pitch.

Now, that label could be a bit misleading, since he adds the least offensive value of the three. However, Gordon is a sturdy, reliable defender, and that's good enough to put a sizable gap between himself and the other two on that end of the floor.

Gordon should, in theory at least, be the cheapest to acquire in a trade. Irving and Hield are in the heart of their primes. Gordon, who turns 34 on Christmas, appeared on a seemingly steep decline the past few seasons before bouncing back (by efficiency, though not by volume) in 2021-22.

However, the rebuilding Rockets appear in no rush to let him go, so maybe the trade cost could be more expensive than you'd think. Houston reportedly received trade offers "from no less than six teams before the draft" and declined them all, even though most packages included first-round picks, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

If this debate was solely about talent, there wouldn't be a debate at all. The answer would be Irving by a country mile.

He makes the league's short list of its most skilled scorers. He has enough dribble moves to ditch defenders in a phone booth, and his shooting touch has yielded a career 47.0/39.3/88.2 slash line that impresses at every level.

Of course, talent isn't everything in trade talks. There's also reliability, which Irving can't claim to offer after suiting up just 103 times over the past three seasons combined. There are also financial implications, like the challenge of fitting his $36.5 million salary (via Spotrac) into the budget.

The potential reward of landing Irving is enormous, but the risk of an Uncle Drew deal is just as great.

While we're presenting this as a fairly straightforward discussion, the reality is, of course, much more convoluted.

The difference in trade cost matters, and that's one element we can't know for certain. Fit is another issue that will be an unknown until (or if) any of these players actually puts on the Purple and Gold.

Still, you came here in search of answer, so we have to provide it. And based on our best educated guess, it seems like Hield should be the top target.

His shooting stroke could be a massive boon given the spacing concerns of the James-Davis-Russell Westbrook trio (or even the James-Davis duo if Westbrook would be shipped out in a Hield deal). Hield is also the youngest of the three (29) and by far the most durable, having played at least 71 games in all six of his NBA seasons.

If the Lakers are going to take a big swing on the trade market, they need to feel confident that the incoming player will make an impact. Hield simply offers a higher level of security than Irving or Gordon can provide.