At 11-15, the Los Angeles Lakers have begun to turn around their 2022-23 season and are making a case to the front office that it’s worth going all-in and making a trade to improve the roster.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been playing at an elite level, with the latter building his own MVP case. Considering James’ age as well, general manager Rob Pelinka needs to be willing to make a trade to give his stars a legitimate shot at chasing a title this year.
Coincidentally, the Lakers got a good look at a potential trade target in Bojan Bogdanovic as they recently beat the Detroit Pistons.
Los Angeles had been linked to the veteran forward in the offseason and they have reportedly picked up conversations again, via Shams Charania of The Athletic:
The Lakers are prioritizing shooting in their conversations with teams, and have discussed packages including salaries and a protected first-round pick for Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic, league sources, who were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, tell The Athletic.
However, acquiring Bogdanovic may not be in the cards as Detroit is holding steadfast on keeping him around:
While Bogdanovic is a target for the Lakers — they are among roughly a dozen teams to inquire about him, offering first- or second-rounders — Detroit is showing no urgency about moving him. In fact, the Pistons have expressed to rival teams a significant reluctance about moving Bogdanovic, sources said.
As The Athletic’s James Edwards III wrote, Bogdanovic has become a leader for this young Pistons group, a productive catalyst on and off the floor, showing exactly why general manager Troy Weaver does not want to move him.
At this point of the season, teams are still clinging onto hope they can make a run at a postseason spot so perhaps even the league-worst Pistons will wait before considering selling off some of their veteran pieces. However, there’s no denying that a player like Bogdanovic would be an immediate upgrade for the Lakers so this situation bears monitoring over the next few weeks.
He proved that on Sunday night when he scored 38 points for the Pistons in the loss to the Lakers.
Bulls not interested in Russell Westbrook in trade scenarios
Another team that’s popped up in the rumor mill is the Chicago Bulls, who have largely underwhelmed so far. Some around the league expect the Bulls to ship out players like DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic if they continue to struggle, but if they ever do become available it would be difficult for L.A. to execute a trade as it sounds like they are not interested in taking back Russell Westbrook.
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