The NBA trade deadline always provides a number of interesting rumors and the Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves in the thick of them more often than not. It appears that this year will be no different as it’s been suggested the Lakers have made Josh Hart, Moritz Wagner and Ivica Zubac available in trade discussions.
The Lakers have been aggressive at the trade deadline during the tenure of president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general Rob Pelinka, completing major trades in each of the last two seasons.
On this episode of the Lakers Nation News Feed, host Trevor Lane takes a look at what this rumor tells us about the team’s plans for this year’s deadline.
The report suggests that the Lakers will hold off on trading anyone else, which would appear to limit them to relatively minor moves thanks to the low salaries of Hart, Zubac and Wagner. In theory, if a big deal becomes available, they could attach the salary of an expiring Rajon Rondo or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in order to match a contract returning, but that could become tricky due to the team’s desire to have enough cap space to chase max-level free agents next summer.
Additionally, both Hart and Zubac have become integral pieces to the Lakers lineup this season, and Wagner has shown flashes of the potential that Los Angeles saw when they selected him with the 25th overall pick in last summer’s NBA Draft. Trading any of them would likely require a solid return that could help the team make a playoff push this season.
We will have to wait and see whether or not such a trade materializes, but it would appear that, for now, the team’s main assets of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma will stay in purple and gold through the deadline, but the rest may be fair game.
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