The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to continue to shake things up ahead of the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline. After adding Dorian Finney-Smith, the Lakers are 2-4.
While they are still very much alive in the Western Conference playoff picture, LeBron James and Anthony Davis could use some scoring help. Austin Reaves is having the best season of his career, but he doesn’t command the same type of gravity that some of the Lakers’ trade targets do.
The Lakers have long been linked to Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine, but questions surrounding his reliability have held up a deal. He is averaging an incredibly efficient 24 points a game this season, and since the New Year has upped his scoring output to 33.3 points per game.
He is exactly the type of player the Lakers would want to add on offense, but after they traded away D’Angelo Russell and his salary, the Lakers don’t have as much flexibility as they did earlier in the season.
The Lakers and Bulls reportedly engaged in talks for LaVine over the offseason, but nothing materialized.
“A source also said there was early-season talk about LaVine and the Lakers, but the puzzle pieces didn’t fit at the time,” wrote the Chicago Suns-Times’ Joe Crowley on Saturday. “And with the Lakers recently trading guard D’Angelo Russell and his contract to the Nets for forward Dorian Finney-Smith, the puzzle has all but been thrown in the garbage.”
With the way LaVine has played recently, the Lakers likely wish they would have added him over the summer when his value was at an all-time low. There is still a possibility the Lakers target him, but it would take a creative deal to bring him to Hollywood.
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