NBA Rumors: Trade Buzz on Kyle Kuzma, Andre Drummond, DJ Augustin and Lakers

Though there's only been one trade during the 2019-20 NBA season—Cleveland trading Jordan Clarkson to Utah for Dante Exum—the rumor mill is still humming.

Due to a dearth of major 2020 free agents, there's not as much trade chatter as we have been accustomed to in recent years, but slowly but surely, we're hearing more and more reports about teams looking to address areas of need.

We've rounded up several of these rumors from the last few days here, two of which concern the NBA's golden franchise: the Los Angeles Lakers.

Let's dig in.

Kuzma Not Long For LA?

After a summer of hyping himself up as the third member of a Big Three with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it looks like Kyle Kuzma may be on his way out of Tinseltown.

Per The Athletic's Sam Amick, Los Angeles is now open to trade offers regarding its forward, which makes sense. After missing the first four games of the season while recovering from a leg injury, Kuzma has struggled to integrate into the Lakers' big-heavy rotation, averaging just 23.6 minutes per game on a career-low 50.9 effective field goal percentage (eFG). 

Now, it appears both Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and LeBron himself like Kuzma quite a bit, which would seem to dampen trade speculation significantly.

However, LeBron also likely knows the 24-year-old is the odd man out on the team and moving him could also help patch up one of the most significant holes on the L.A. roster: point guard.

Lakers Want Backup PG

Though Alex Caruso is eighth in All-Star voting among Western Conference guards—ahead of both Devin Booker and Ja Morant—the combination of he, Rajon Rondo and Quinn Cook at point guard has been subpar this season, prompting Pelinka and company to search for an additional solution.

Earlier this week, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported recently retired point guard Darren Collison is looking to return to the NBA, with the Lakers near the top of his preferred destinations, but the 32-year-old may not be the only available option.

Per Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, Orlando Magic backup point guard DJ Augustin may be an available and effective midseason pickup for the Lakers.

The Texas product has been benched in Orlando since early this year due to Markelle Fultz's reemergence, and with Jonathan Isaac's relatively serious leg injury providing a neat excuse for the Magic to tank, now's as good a time as any for Augustin to seek an exit route from Orlando.

The 32-year-old has not been amazing individually this season, shooting just 39.4 percent from the field, but he's been in the league for so long because he's a steady hand who can run an offense well enough.

Moving him for the likes of Jared Dudley, Cook and a second-rounder could be a worthy deal for the Lakers to make as the trade deadline draws closer.

Drummond on the Market

Trade rumors have surrounded Pistons center Andre Drummond for weeks now.

With Detroit firmly in lottery position, Blake Griffin seemingly past his prime and Drummond seemingly excited to be a free agent, it seems logical that the Pistons should trade their two-time All Star. And finally, legitimate buzz seems to be building for such a move to occur.

Per Wojnarowski, Detroit has discussed moving Drummond to the Atlanta Hawks, a report which Yahoo's Vincent Goodwill piled onto by noting the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, and Toronto Raptors each have interest in the center as well.

Wojnarowski did also note a trade between Detroit and Atlanta is not considered imminent, but he reported the leaguewide expectation around the 26-year-old is that he will be traded. And given his $27.1 million salary, whatever trade occurs will likely involve several players and possibly multiple draft picks.

Stay tuned to B/R as the Drummond sweepstakes heat up in the next few weeks and months.