Lakers News: How Recent Lottery Pick Could Be Traded To LA
Though Los Angeles Lakers fans perhaps feel that the team's front office should be looking to make a big move in time for the forthcoming February 9th NBA trade deadline, it certainly seems that LA is more interested in making a deal around the margins of its roster than, say, adding Myles Turner and Buddy Hield for Russell Westbrook.
To that end, the long-rumored deal that could send New York Knicks combo forward Cam Reddish is again being floated as a possible fringe addition who could help improve the team's depth -- or, at least, lift the ceiling of that depth.
Doug McKain of Lakers 248 unpacks the intriguing potential fit of Cam Reddish for a woefully undersized LA team.
"Let's dive into the latest rumors that have the Lakers as one of the handful of teams that are still interested in trading for the former No. 10 pick out of Duke in the 2019 draft," McKain said. "Marc Stein says the Knicks are ramping up their efforts to move Reddish, who hasn't played in a game since December 3rd."
McKain goes on to note that Marc Stein reported New York wanted just a second round pick in return, in addition to money for salary-matching purposes.
"Of course we know about Cam Reddish -- he's the guy who has had that limitless potential, that upside," McKain said. "If he realizes his potential, he could help a lot of teams and make himself a lot of money. There's a lot of teams out there that would want a player of Cam Reddish's caliber."
"He's a guy that just has not offensively been able to get it to click, but the upside is there," McKain continued. "[If] you're the Los Angeles Lakers and you consider the price tag and how much it has gone down -- because look a month ago, we saw the Knicks were looking for a [protected] first-round pick."
"Now what are the benefits of Cam Reddish?" McKain asked. "He could give the Lakers some much needed wing depth, he can be a better perimeter defender... And look the reality is, when you consider the Lakers' lack of assets and how premium of a position the wing is in the NBA, you have to take a risk on guys like Cam Reddish."
Across the 20 games he did play this year for New York before being shut down, the 6'8" small forward averaged 8.4 points on .449/.304/.879 shooting splits, 1.6 rebounds, and one assist.
Now that the Lakers are trading for Rui Hachimura, like Reddish an ex-lottery pick combo forward whose value has depreciated, it does make a deal for Reddish himself seem like less of a fit. Reddish is also still significantly more raw than Hachimura, and they do play the same two positions (though Hachimura can actually make threes), so perhaps the Lakers will look elsewhere for roster upgrades.
