It was reported a few weeks ago that veteran guard Jason Richardson would most likely not be dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers in a potential blockbuster trade involving Dwight Howard. The reasoning behind Richardson not coming to L.A. was his large contract and a rumored rift with former teammate Steve Nash.
With talks of a Howard trade to the Lakers heating up once again, Richardson might be involved in a scenario that would send him to Los Angeles along with the superstar center according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports via Twitter:
Orlando’s Jason Richardson has been significant name in 4-way talks too, sources tell Y! There’s a scenario where he goes with Howard to LA.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) August 9, 2012
Over the last few months, Magic brass has made it clear that they intend to shed some salary with Jason Richardson and/or Hedo Turkoglu being added in a Howard trade. Adding Turkoglu or Richardson has been a problem with few teams willing to take on their contracts.
Richardson has three years left on his current contract with a player option in his third year. The veteran guard is set to make $5.7 million next season, $6.2 million in 2013-14 and $6.6 million (player option) the year after.
With the Lakers already facing a huge luxury tax, GM Mitch Kupchak and company will presumably want to avoid taking on any extra salary even if Gasol’s $39 million over the next two years is off the books.
The first trade proposal that was reported on Thursday involved Orlando Magic sending Howard to the Lakers in a four-team deal with the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets. As a part of the deal, the Nuggets would send Al Harrington to Los Angeles and would receive Andre Igoudala in return from the 76ers. The Magic would acquire Pau Gasol and Arron Afflalo while Andrew Bynum would be sent to Philadelphia.
This deal seems feasible with all teams involved receiving a player that can be a game-changer moving forward. Unfortunately, four-team deals are extremely difficult to pull off. There’s no indication at this point in time which teams are content with this current trade proposal, but many reputable sources have confirmed that talks between these four teams are taking place. It’s safe to say the current proposal may change many times before a deal gets done.
