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The trade market has been dominated by reports about the impending trade of Chicago Bulls small forward Zach LaVine.
Rumors continue to link him to the Los Angeles Lakers. Part of that can be attributed to his career three-point shooting percentage of 38.2, an area in which the Lakers could improve.
To acquire a player of LaVine’s stature would likely require the gutting of the team’s depth, which it spent the entire offseason acquiring, in an attempt to make up for the mammoth $43 million due to the Bulls star this season.
He is due just south of $46 million in 2024-25, which would seemingly restrict the team in terms of the salary cap and the luxury tax.
There is another option in the form of Gary Trent Jr., whose 38.2 three-point percentage is higher than LaVine’s and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. More impressively is that 38.2 represents Trent’s worst since the 2020-21 season.
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie has Trent on its trade board at No. 11, with the Lakers and 76ers as the best fits for the guard, with a market value of multiple second-round picks.
The Lakers have a second in 2024, two in 2025, and one in 2027.
The team is already over $44 million in the salary cap so it may be difficult to execute a deal without Los Angeles offloading a player or two. The Lakers do have D’Angelo Russell on the roster, with another year on his deal, and could conceivably include him in the deal.
Trent, statistically, has had a down year but a change of scenery could help. He has already come off the bench in Toronto, so it would not be a big ask for him to do the same for the Lakers.
With 10.3 points per game, 1.9 rebounds, and 24.7 minutes a game, he can be an asset that adds depth to a roster still trying to figure out exactly what it is amid a plethora of early season injuries, including those to Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, and Gabe Vincent.
More importantly, he can do it without restricting the team financially for the next two seasons and threaten its roster depth, which trading for LaVine would.
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