At one point in the season, the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have any point guards and relied on Kobe Bryant and Xavier Henry until they found themselves on the injury list as well. With most of the backcourt decimated by injuries, the Lakers took a chance on Kendall Marshall.
Despite being a 2012 lottery pick, Marshall was waived by the Phoenix Suns and found himself in the D-League. When he finally got an opportunity to play, Marshall quickly became a steal for the Lakers.
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With Marshall averaging 10.7 points and 9.8 assists, GM Mitch Kupchak says he wanted to free up more time for the up-and-comer and veteran Jordan Farmar by trading Steve Blake according to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report:
Kupchak on Blake: "It really got to the point where needed to free up some time to look at Jordan and give Kendall the time that he earned."
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) February 20, 2014
With Nash day-to-day with another injury, this will give the Lakers time to evaluate the point guard position moving forward. Although the team is headed for the lottery, the final 28 games will help the Lakers determine if they have strong depth at the point guard position or if they need to acquire another player through the draft or free agency.
Although it is disappointing to see Blake go when he was having his best season, the focus for the organization is to see which players they want to bring back next season.
With most of the players on one-year deals, it’ll be interesting to see what the plan is for these Lakers.
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Lakers Trade Steve Blake To Golden State Warriors For Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks