The NBA trade deadline has come and gone with the Los Angeles Lakers deciding to make a couple of moves. The first of the two trade made by the Lakers involved the team sending veteran guard Lou Williams to the Houston Rockets.
New Lakers president of basketball operations, Magic Johnson, explained the reasoning behind the trade to part ways with the team’s leading scorer in exchange for a draft pick and Corey Brewer in a press release announcing the deal on Thursday, via Lakers.com:
“This trade allows us to continue on the path of building something special, while maintaining future flexibility within the organization,” Johnson said. “Additionally, Corey is a proven veteran that will make a positive impact on our team right away.”
Clearly, the Lakers valued the first-round draft in the deal with the team possibly losing their own pick this summer in the NBA Draft Lottery. The Lakers’ current first-round pick is top-3 protected meaning they could easily lose it in the lottery, especially if they tack on some more wins in the final stretch of the 2016-17 campaign.
As for Brewer, the veteran forward is only under contract for one more season at $7.6 million. It is uncertain what kind of role he’ll play with the team moving forward and if he is in the long-term plans, but as of right now he’ll likely be another veteran off the bench helping fill the void left by Williams departure.
Brewer hadn’t made much of an impact for the Rockets before being traded to the Lakers on Thursday. The 30-year-old averaged 4.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game in 58 games for Houston this season.
