Lakers Rumors: LA Reportedly Interested In Trading For Longtime Veteran Scorer
Your Los Angeles Lakers sagely struck early in the lead-up to the February 9th NBA trade deadline, making the first major in-season move this year with a deal that sent three future second-round picks and little-used point guard Kendrick Nunn to the Washington Wizards for exciting young forward Rui Hachimura, the No. 9 pick in the 2019 NBA draft.
Obviously, Hachimura has become something of a depreciated asset since the Wizards selected him ahead of Cameron Johnson and Tyler Herro in the lottery, and other, now-better players later on, including Jordan Poole, Keldon Johnson and Nic Claxton. The 6'8" forward is an excellent catch-and-shoot floor-spacer, and seems to have untapped defensive upside. Point being, it was a good deal for an obvious roster upgrade who could turn into something better.
But, as team president Rob Pelinka revealed in a presser introducing Hachimura, LA may not be quite done dealmaking.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report reports that the Lakers number among the playoff hopefuls in the mix for Houston Rockets veteran shooting guard Eric Gordon. Per Pincus, the spiraling Phoenix Suns and the largely Khris Middleton-less Milwaukee Bucks are the other two teams he hears are in the running for the 34-year-old former Sixth Man of the Year's services this season.
Gordon has a non-guaranteed final $20.9 million season on his contract (unless his club wins a championship, which certainly won't be happening with the Rockets), and thus could effectively be made a free agent by whichever club adds him if things don't work out. Pincus writes that the Rockets want to receive a first-round draft pick in a Gordon deal.
That price seems steep, and the Rockets could always roll over his salary to next year as well and try again closer to the 2024 trade deadline. Pincus posits that an interested buyer could try floating a swap of future first-round draft picks, rather than outright surrendering a first. I don't even think that price makes a ton of sense for LA, which could find comparable options for cheaper, like San Antonio Spurs swingman Josh Richardson. Richardson perhaps has never reached Gordon's peak output yet, but is similar at this juncture in Gordon's career.
