Lakers Trade Rumors Tracker: Latest Updates Ahead of NBA Trade Deadline
One benefit of being a terrible team is the fact that the trade deadline is a chance to accrue future assets. The Los Angeles Lakers are in a spot they aren't familiar with, which could make the next seven days a crapshoot of opportunities in this market.
Whether the front office will be able to do anything with this Lakers roster in the next week is a mystery. Here are the latest updated trade rumors for the struggling Los Angeles franchise.
Continue for updates.
Broussard: Lakers Interested in Ty Lawson
Wednesday, Feb. 18
ESPN's Chris Broussard reported the Lakers are interested in Lawson. The Lakers' interest came on the heels of Broussard reporting that the Nuggets are trying to move Lawson, noting that Brian Shaw is interested in George Hill as a potential replacement.
Wojnarowski: Lakers on Dragic's List of Preferred Teams
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers, along with the Knicks and Heat, are among Dragic's preffered destinations.
Sporting News: Market For Jeremy Lin Weak
Friday, Feb. 6
The Jeremy Lin experiment has been a disaster for the Lakers. He's shooting well from three-point range, but everything else about his game has been a miss in Byron Scott's offense.
As a result, according to Sean Deveney of Sporting News, there's been virtually no market for Lin this deadline season.
"He would make a good backup point guard," Deveney wrote. "And the Lakers would move him if they could get an asset in return, but the market for Lin has been weak."
His salary would be a problem even if the Lakers had a market for Lin. As noted by ESPN Insider Nick Borges, the veteran point guard has an $8.37 million cap hit this season, "but he's actually making close to $15 million as part of the offer sheet he signed with the Houston Rockets in July of 2012."
It would take some fancy financial wrangling for the Lakers to make it worth anyone's while to take Lin back in a deal. Borges also speculates that it may be a moot point, as Lin "is a candidate to ask for a buyout by Mar. 1" so he can sign wherever he likes.
Given Lin's struggles offensively, not to mention the fact that he ranks 326th in Basketball-Reference's win shares per 48 minutes, he may be better off waiting until March 1 to ask for a buyout. If the Lakers grant his wish, he can regain some control over his career, which hasn't been the case since his free-agent summer three years ago.
Sporting News: Lakers' Interest in Taj Gibson
Friday, Feb. 6
In what has to be one of the most baffling trade rumors involving the Lakers, Deveney noted that Taj Gibson "has been connected to much of the league the past few months, from Los Angeles to Toronto to Phoenix to Detroit to Portland."
The good news is it's hardly definitive, but it's interesting to think about why the Lakers would even be considering a deal like that.
Gibson is signed through 2016-17 but will make nearly $17.5 million total over the next two years, per Spotrac. It's not an exorbitant salary for a player who averages 10.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game at the age of 29.
The problem is that Los Angeles' last priority in any deal is adding payroll. One of the league's worst teams should be firmly entrenched in rebuilding, but that's hard to sell in a city with such a short attention span and an aged, broken-down former superstar making $25 million next year.
Gibson is also a baffling potential addition because the Lakers have enough size with Jordan Hill and Carlos Boozer. Those aren't exactly building blocks, but they have been productive enough for this team and aren't eating up much cap space.
Given the way Deveney framed the Lakers' interest in Gibson, noting that teams have been calling on him for the past few months, one can only hope the Lakers tried in December as a way to convince themselves they were still contenders and have accepted the reality of what they are.
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