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Los Angeles Lakers
Aug 11, 2025 4:59 PM EDT
In his time in the NBA, forward Dillon Brooks–with sharp elbows and a sharp tongue–has managed to get under the skin of most in Lakers Nation, most prominently star forward LeBron James. It was just two years ago that Brooks, playing for Memphis, notably called James “old” in the playoffs and said, “I poke bears – I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40.”
James did not give Brooks 40 in that series, but he did average 22.2 points and 11.2 rebounds, dispatching Memphis in six games. The Grizzlies, meanwhile, let Brooks walk in free agency to Houston after that series.
For both James and the Lakers, there could be an opportunity to mend fences, though, and bring on Brooks in a trade. It’s expected he will see a reduced role next season, with the rise of young star Amen Thompson and the signing, oddly enough, of Lakers free-agent Dorian Finney-Smith. The Lakers could use a 3-and-D small forward, and like him or not, Brooks fits the bill.
Dillon Brooks to the Lakers?
That’s the proposal from Jacob Rude of Silver Screen and Roll, a top Lakers site. He put forward a trade pitch to bring Brooks to L.A., love or (more likely) hate him. He still can defend, after all, and offensively, he scored 14.0 points and made 39.7% of his 3s last year.
The proposal would send Maxi Kleber and Gabe Vincent to the Rockets.
Rude writes: “Brooks still is a decent player. He’s a great defender, arguably one of the best wing defenders in the league. He’s a streaky shooter who is capable of some big performances, too.
“With the Lakers, he’d almost certainly be a reserve, meaning his leash could be much shorter when he starts doing crazy things, which could help him, too. … This deal would, however, require lots of Lakers fans to likely delete some old tweets about Brooks.”
Lakers Unlikely to Make Trades
The caveat here is that around the league, the belief is the Lakers want to give the roster as it stands a chance to work before it gets tinkered with.
As one Western Conference exec said of L.A.: “They have not been attacking the trade market by any stretch of the imagination/ Most teams now are in a sort-of wait-and-see mode, and I would include the Lakers in that. They want to give it some time before they make a trade.”
That means a deal for Brooks could be tempting, but it probably would not happen until the season got rolling. And for the Rockets, who were the No. 2 seed in the West last year, there would surely be a resistance to giving the Lakers a useful player.
About the Author
Sean Deveney