Lakers ‘Actively’ Shopped Forward, Tried to Trade for Nets Guard
The Los Angeles Lakers really wanted to trade for a Brooklyn Nets guard and they almost got the player. Things don’t look really well for the Lakers at the moment. Players struggle to make shots and Anthony Davis is out due to an injury. There are several major options for the franchise and the only thing we can do is wait.
LeBron James and AD were leading the way and they really needed a third option. Kyle Kuzma was supposed to be this player for the Lakers but he struggles with inconsistency. Los Angeles lost the chance to take a top seed and they may leave the playoff run tonight.
Kuzma was a nice contributor and the team offered him a huge contract extension. But, the team really wanted to trade him.
“Los Angeles did engage teams with packages involving Kyle Kuzma before March’s trade deadline, sources said. Kuzma begins a three-year, $39 million contract next season.
“‘They made a bunch of calls,’ one assistant general manager told B/R. ‘They were very active.’”
Lakers front office wanted to trade for the Nets guard
The Lakers wanted to trade the young player but there were too many obstacles on their way. Bobby Marks from ESPN reports that “players still on their rookie deals before an extension kicks in, the NBA counts their fourth-year salary as outgoing money and the average of the extension amount and last year of their rookie contract as incoming money.”
This means the franchise would’ve only opened up about $3.5 million in cap space by trading the young star. Trading him a player that was earning decent money would have been really hard.
LA wanted Spencer Dinwiddie and Kuzma was set to go.
Here’s what Fischer explained:
“In addition to their pursuit of Lowry, the Lakers were canvassing the league for opportunities to acquire a rookie-scale player who could perhaps bridge this James-Davis chapter and the inevitable post-James future. Before Spencer Dinwiddie’s injury, Los Angeles even inquired about adding Brooklyn’s reserve ball handler in exchange for Kuzma.”
It looks like Kuzma will stay around for a while. The Lakers will have to make a few moves to get the right players on their roster. He is safe for now.