Insider Believes Lakers Must Be Taken Seriously As Jrue Holiday Trade Destination with a Caveat
The NBA has been shaken up once again as just days before majority of training camps and media days take place, Damian Lillard finally found his way out of Portland. Despite spending all of his career thus far with the Trailblazers and priding himself on not leaving until he brought a ring to the city, he was clear these past few months about his desire to get traded to the Miami Heat and it looked like that was all but set to happen at some point.
However, things took a twist and Lillard decided to open up his options. The Milwaukee Bucks decided to enter the sweepstakes and parted ways with their defensive specialist and champion guard Jrue Holiday along with Grayson Allen in order get him. The Phoenix Suns also got involved in the deal and sent DeAndre Ayton to the Blazers in order to land Jusuf Nurkic and some added depth.
The Los Angeles Lakers are still viewed as one of the favorites in the NBA to take home the 2024 championship and had a very successful offseason themselves but this Bucks trade does cause a seismic shift of power in the league. In 35 career games against the purple and gold, Lillard has averaged 28 points and seven assists and has given them consistent problems.
Austin Reaves did show flashes of being a great defender last season but LA wants to focus on utilizing him more as a ball-handler. Both D'Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent also are not labeled as defensive specialists.
Therefore, rumors have been spiraling about the Lakers potentially taking at Holiday as it's more than likely that the Trailblazers will look to deal him elsewhere in favor of young talent and draft picks.
Insider Bill Simmons thinks there is a world where Holiday is still available months down the road and LA could get in the mix thanks to Russell's contract.
"The Lakers have to be taken seriously too but they can't do anything until December," said Simmons. "They basically re-signed Russell and they can trade him later down the road but there could be a situation where Portland doesn't like initial offers and they say they'll just wait until after the season starts."
(Via Off The Pike Podcast)
We'll have to see if the Lakers decide to make a legit run for the two-time All-Star if he's still available.
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