It’s no secret that the Los Angeles Lakers are looking to make moves to improve their roster this summer as with the draft and free agency quickly approaching, they have been linked to just about every big-name player available.
Two things the Lakers are looking to add are a playmaking point guard and a knockdown shooter. For the former, they have reported interest in Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry and Russell Westbrook, among others.
And for the latter, the name who keeps coming up is Buddy Hield of the Sacramento Kings. Hield is still under control but has expressed unhappiness with his role and is now likely to be traded.
The Lakers have had interest in Hield for a while now, and a potential deal could be centered around Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell is he opts into the final year of his contract.
According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, acquiring Hield seems like the most likely and realistic of all the moves the Lakers can make:
Of all the scenarios for a supporting player believed to be in play, one source to the situation indicated the Hield deal — which would involve forward Kyle Kuzma and would also likely require Lakers forward Montrezl Harrell to opt in to the final year of his deal (worth $9.7 million) and be included — appears the most promising thus far.
While it’s looking like Hield will definitely be traded though, the Lakers will have some competition:
A source with knowledge of the talks said Philadelphia also has shown interest (unrelated to Simmons), with other teams believed to be engaged on that front as well. A Hield deal of some sort, it seems, is likely on the horizon.
If Kuzma and Harrell aren’t enough to get a deal done then the Lakers could also potentially add in the 22nd pick in this year’s draft, although that deal would have to take place before a player is picked on Thursday night.
Even though Hield is a great shooter though, he doesn’t solve all of the Lakers’ issues so taking a player at 22 or saving it for another trade would make some sense as well.
Harrell 50-50 on picking up option
For a deal to get done, Harrell would likely need to be included just for the purpose of matching salaries. It remains to be seen if that is possible though as he has until July 31 to decide if he wants to opt-in and be under contract at $9.7 million for one more year or opt-out and test free agency.
The Lakers would obviously prefer the former, but as things currently stand, Harrell is reportedly ’50-50′ on what he is going to do.
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