The NBA trade deadline is on Feb. 18 and it looks as if the Los Angeles Lakers are interested in making some moves. Although the storied franchise might not have the assets to land a big-name before the deadline, Los Angeles appears to be active with quite a few veterans on the trading block.
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Lakers have made four veterans on the squad available:
Denver is making no secret of veteran forward J.J. Hickson’s availability. Ditto for the Los Angeles Lakers and a number of veterans on their roster: Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bass, Nick Young and Lou Williams. We should note, however, that Hibbert possesses the only expiring contract in that quartet. Bass holds a $3.1 million player option for next season.
Recently, rumors surfaced about Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bass, and Nick Young potentially being available before next month’s trade deadline. Now Lou Williams has been thrown into the mix and might be the most attractive trade piece the team has moving forward.
With these four veterans available on the open market, it’ll be interesting to see what the Lakers can get in return. It may be difficult to move Hibbert and Young, but Los Angeles may receive interest in the other two veterans.
The team will almost certainly get some calls for Williams’ services with the veteran’s production being virtually identical to last year’s when he was with the Toronto Raptors. Williams is averaging 15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and 33.2 from beyond the arc.
As for the 30-year-old Bass, the veteran forward is playing 17.9 minutes per game which is down from last season’s 23.5 with the Boston Celtics. Despite less time on the floor, Bass still makes an impact with 6.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest.
Playoff contenders around the league may give the Lakers brass a call to see if they to pry some of these players away.