With the trade deadline approaching, attention remains on the Los Angeles Lakers and whether or not they will make a move to bolster their roster. Rumors have been surrounding the team since before the start of the season on a number of different players, but one who has regularly been popping up recently is Detroit Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic.
While not the wing defender the Lakers could use, Bogdanovic would give a huge offensive boost to the team as the sharpshooter they have been missing. The Pistons are asking for a lot in order to acquire him, however, and the Lakers have yet to be willing to part with that. But they are apparently still interested.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Lakers are one of many teams still interested in Bogdanovic, but the Pistons are still looking for an unprotected first-round pick in order to take him away:
The Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks are among the teams registering interest in Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanović, league sources say. The Pistons have maintained that they prefer to keep Bogdanović moving forward, but as The Athletic’s James Edwards III reported, the franchise is open to conversations, and it’s believed an unprotected first-round pick can pry Bogdanović out of Detroit.
The teams interested in acquiring Bogdanovic have playoff and championship aspirations which just goes to show the type of impact he can make on a team. Bogdanovic is enjoying a career year in Detroit averaging 21.2 points, a career-best. His 48.7 percent shooting from the field and 41.5 percent shooting from 3-point range are both the second-highest marks of his career and he’s shot 40 percent or better from deep in four of the last six seasons.
The question is whether or not the Lakers will be willing to give up that unprotected first-round pick in order to acquire him and recent reports would suggest not. He would undoubtedly make the team better, but likely not a championship contender and the front office seemingly would only be willing to part with those picks in a deal that does.
That type of deal likely won’t come available before the trade deadline and is more likely in the offseason. The Lakers would have more assets available then, and salary cap space, but would also be effectively punting away this season if they were to stand pat. Of the names that have been floated around, there aren’t many better than Bogdanovic and the Lakers have the pieces to make that deal happen, but whether they would do so remains unclear.
Darvin Ham on Lakers’ trade deadline needs: ‘Shooting always helps’
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is more focused on getting his team healthy than potential outside additions, but he is more than aware of the biggest need, and that is shooting.
“I can’t really pinpoint a need at this point, shooting always helps, but at the end of the day, our team is coming together,” the Lakers head coach said. “They’ve been playing really well together. It sucks that we’ve had guys out for various reasons, injuries, illnesses, but as we start to get these guys back then we’ll be able to better identify if there’s anything that we want to do.”
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