The Los Angeles Lakers can likely cross one name off their trade deadline wish list.
This week on “The NBA Chats” podcast, Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus indicated that the Lakers may be out on Detroit forward Jerami Grant.
“I’d actually heard the Lakers kinda passed on Grant,” said Pincus. “That he doesn’t want to play a secondary or tertiary role to LeBron [James] or AD [Anthony Davis], that they’re gonna have to invest big money in him.”
Pincus clarified on Twitter that he meant the Lakers appear to have halted their pursuit of Grant, not that they declined a Grant offer from the Pistons.
Grant, 27, is under contract for $20 million this season and $21 million next season. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reports that the Lakers have been offering teams a package consisting of Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and a future first-round draft pick but have received little interest. While it is unclear if the Lakers offered that for Grant, that would likely not be enough for a guy averaging 20 points a game with plus defense.
If the Lakers are indeed out on Grant, that does not necessarily mean their trade deadline will be a wash. In fact, one major deal is still a possibility.
More must-reads: