Lakers Rumors: Buzz from LA on Goran Dragic and More as Trade Deadline Nears
The NBA trade deadline just wasn’t made for teams like this season’s Los Angeles Lakers.
For one, they are far from contenders and won’t be mortgaging the long-term future to land a complementary piece such as Arron Afflalo. They also don’t really have many desirable pieces that short-term buyers will look to pry away from them in a swap either.
That just leaves this team in something of a purgatory as the rest of the league is surrounded by craziness.
Still, this is the Lakers we are talking about, so they are naturally involved in one serious rumor with Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic. There is next year and beyond to think about, and he could theoretically help the purple and gold return to prominence in the near future.
With that in mind, here is the latest buzz from Los Angeles before Thursday’s trade deadline.
Goran Dragic
Marc Stein of ESPN.com passed along an update on Dragic:
"The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers are among many teams expected to try to persuade the Phoenix Suns to part with star guard Goran Dragic before Thursday's NBA trade deadline, according to league sources.
The Lakers, meanwhile, also have coveted Dragic for some time and likewise are said to be intent on testing the Suns' resolve when it comes to their Slovenian point guard. Sources say L.A. plans to chase Dragic this summer anyway with an aggressive four-year offer that would be valued as high as an estimated $80 million if it approaches max-contract territory.
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There is a lot at play any time Dragic’s name is brought up in a rumor. On the one hand, the Suns are still very much alive in the Western Conference playoff race, and giving up their guard, who was All-NBA third team and the league’s Most Improved Player a season ago, would be detrimental to those postseason chances.
However, he is a free agent and will be a coveted commodity in the offseason. Phoenix runs the risk of losing him for nothing if it doesn’t move him before Thursday’s deadline.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports also weighed in on an update from Phoenix’s perspective:
Ultimately, signing Dragic in the offseason would be the best basketball outcome for the Suns, even if their roster is too guard heavy. However, the lure of playing in Los Angeles alongside someone such as Kobe Bryant could very well be tempting in the summer, especially if a top-five draft pick, a healthy Julius Randle and perhaps another free agent are in place.
Suddenly, we could be looking at a Lakers squad that is ready to at least compete for a playoff spot as soon as next year.
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds from Los Angeles’ perspective, because it wouldn’t make much sense to give up that much in a potential trade if it plans on pursuing Dragic as a free agent anyway. If nothing else, renting him for the remainder of the season would decrease the chances that the team lands a top-five pick, which is the only way it holds onto its first-rounder in the upcoming draft.
It seems like Dragic could eventually be a member of the Lakers, but when that becomes a reality remains to be seen.
Jeremy Lin
Howard Beck of Bleacher Report noted that a current Lakers guard may not be on the roster next season: “The Rockets remain high on Lin and are expected to be among his chief suitors this summer.”
If Los Angeles does plan on contending next season with some moves in free agency and in the draft, the loss of Jeremy Lin isn’t that detrimental. His 10.2 points per game and 42.6 percent shooting clip from the field would both be the lowest marks of his career since his brief run with the Golden State Warriors in 2010-11. He also isn’t even starting anymore this season.
Lin commented on the struggles, via Beck:
"It's just been a growing experience, more than anything. Never would I have thought that my career has gone in the trajectory that it's gone in. ... When I was younger, it seemed like every year I would get better. It seemed like I would put the work in and then I would see those improvements. And for whatever reason, I felt like, well, I know I put the work in, and I felt like I was getting better. But it didn't always amount to the results I wanted to see. So that's definitely frustrating.
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A return to Houston would be interesting, especially since it was the team that gave him up this offseason. However, it would be fairly unlikely for the Lakers to offer the Harvard product a significant contract this offseason after an up-and-down campaign and with bigger plans on the immediate horizon.
Lin’s sudden run of success with the New York Knicks may have seemed like something out of a movie, but any resurrection of “Linsanity” likely won’t be in Hollywood.
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