Lakers Trade Rumors: Pursuing Brandon Jennings and Brook Lopez Is Wrong Move
Why, oh why, are the Los Angeles Lakers involved in NBA trade rumors involving big-name players?
Hopefully the Lakers keep popping up on the rumor mill only in an effort to appease fans, because making significant moves with the current roster construction would just put the team in an insurmountable hole in terms of competitiveness in the long run.
Salvaging the remaining years of Kobe Bryant's career is of understandable importance, but the names popping up on the Lakers' radar would require sacrificing the future. This team needs to rebuild in the most desperate of ways. It should look to trade assets, not jeopardize the future by dealing away picks or valuable young parts.
There's no doubting that there are players who might help this team be more competitive right now. But playoff worthy? Think again. It's about time Los Angeles plans ahead.
Below is a breakdown of the latest trade buzz surrounding the organization, including why adding the rumored players is a bad idea.
To his credit, Brandon Jennings is enjoying a fine season with the Detroit Pistons. He's averaging 14.9 points, 6.5 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per night. He has been particularly strong since the release of Josh Smith:
Head coach Stan Van Gundy has never seen Jennings play better, as he told Vincent Goodwill Jr. of The Detroit News: "He's playing great and you gotta let those guys go. He's playing as well as I've seen him play since he came into the league."
He's under contract through next season, so the Pistons could feasibly ask for a pricey return. Jennings is an appealing piece for contending teams, but not the Lakers.
ESPN's Ramona Shelburne tweets that the team has had discussions over the past month about acquiring him:
This isn't a good idea for an amalgam of reasons. For one, the Pistons have no need to trade a key cog in their team's 9-2 run since Dec. 26. Detroit is still far from a playoff team, but it is trending upward. That's usually not when teams unload talent. With this being the case, the price will be high.
It could easily take Wesley Johnson, an expiring contract and picks to make a deal happen. Given the Pistons' hole at small forward, that seems like a reasonable starting point. That's too much for the Lakers to give up. There's no reason why a team in their position should consider moving valuable draft picks.
The second reason this wouldn't work is that a Jennings-Bryant pairing would be remarkably inefficient. The Black Mamba has taken 20.8 shots per game this season and averaged 36.9 percent from the floor.
Jennings takes 12.9 shots per game as a point guard and only drains 40.3 percent of them. That's actually his second-best yearly total, as his career mark is just 39.1 percent.
A successful team cannot have two key players shooting near 40 percent from the floor. Judging by their per-game totals, that means they'd make roughly 13 of 34 shots. Talk about inefficiency.
There'd be an abundance of excitement with Jennings and Bryant calling the shots out of the backcourt, but it wouldn't lead to much of an improved performance. Add in how it would jeopardize the future, and this is just a bad idea.
And now, an even worse idea.
Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Lakers have interest in acquiring 7-footer Brook Lopez:
Of course, Lopez is the center of an entirely different blockbuster trade that could be completed soon—one not involving the Lakers, per ESPN's Chris Broussard:
Lopez' numbers aren't fantastic, though one has to appreciate his contributions on offense. He has dropped 14.6 points per game on 50.4 percent shooting, but his downfall has always been how little he contributes on the glass. There's no reason someone of his height should average just 6.3 rebounds per game.
His offensive numbers are enough to draw interest, obviously, so the fact that there's a market for him isn't surprising in the least. He's just not the right fit in Los Angeles.
Jordan Hill has played well, and Tarik Black has the potential to be the future of the position. Given the Lakers' futility, they'd be wise to commit minutes to Black. As a rookie, he has much to learn about being an NBA regular.
He has shown flashes of strong play as an undrafted free agent, hence why the Lakers are giving him a shot. Adding Lopez would hinder his growth significantly.
And, again, the package the Lakers would have to give the Brooklyn Nets is not ideal for a team in need of a rebuild.
The difference between adding Jennings and adding Lopez is that bringing in the big man will inhibit the growth of a key future player. Jennings isn't necessarily blocking anyone of value, as Jeremy Lin and Ronnie Price have reached their respective ceilings.
Black doesn't have a ridiculously high ceiling, but he's a player worth developing in a down year. They'll never know what they truly have in him unless he's given a good amount of minutes this season.
This would be a worst-case scenario if Wojnarowski's report proves true.
Follow Kenny DeJohn on Twitter: @kennydejohn
