Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press
Rumors are abound a little more than 48 hours before the NBA Trade Deadline, but the best team in the Western Conference through 48 games has been surprisingly quiet. Now whether that means the Los Angeles Lakers will simply stick to the roster they’ve assembled for a title quest or that working on a surprise deal as to not show their hand to other contenders is unknown.
Here’s what we do know regarding some of L.A.’s rumored targets over the past few weeks:
Kings Hesitant To Part With Bogdanovic
According to the Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, the Kings dangled Nemanja Bjelica and a future draft pick as trade bait for Kyle Kuzma. Not surprisingly, L.A. refused and instead offered the same deal, plus Bogdan Bogdanovic, which the Kings swiftly shut down.
The situation with Bogdanovic could go all the way up until the trade deadline, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, in part because he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer and Sacramento could potentially lose him for nothing in that scenario. But standing in the way of a potential deal is the Lakers’ likely inability to trade their first-round pick this year, due to NBA rules mandating teams cannot be without a first-round pick for consecutive years. That leaves them trying to match assets with a team squarely in rebuilding mode.
Where exactly does that leave the Lakers and Kuzma? According to Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher, the Lakers deny that they’re “aggressively shopping” the third-year forward. As the most easily movable piece L.A. has (Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope all have no-trade clauses due to their Bird Rights), if Kuzma is staying in L.A., it’s almost certain the Lakers will stand pat at the deadline and make a run at the franchise’s record-tying 17th world championship with the roster currently in place.
Iguodala Willing To Sit Out Entire Season In Memphis
Former Finals MVP Andre Igoudala is prepared to miss the rest of the 2019-20 season in Memphis if the team doesn’t buy him out or find a suitable trade partner, according to The Athletic’s David Aldridge. Both the Clippers and Lakers are in the market for a defensive-minded wing, and the 36-year-old Iguodala fits that bill perfectly.
However, Memphis has remained firm from the beginning of the year on their stance that he won’t be traded unless they can get valuable assets in return. They’ve also refused to buy out his contract, which pays him $17 million this year after being traded from Golden State earlier this summer. This bit of posturing, almost certainly from Iguodala’s camp in an attempt to push Memphis into a corner, has rubbed Grizzlies players, including Dillon Brooks and Ja Morant, the wrong way.
Ja Morant @JaMorant
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Even if Memphis were willing to engage with the Lakers, it’s hard to see a scenario where L.A. could put together enough assets—and more specifically contract—that would be of interest to a franchise building around young stars in Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Seemingly the only real possibility that remains for L.A. is a potential buyout, in which the Lakers agree to send cash considerations to Memphis to help offset the $17 million, but even that seems like a stretch with L.A.’s already limited cap space.
Follow Keegan on Twitter @ByKeeganPope.
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