The NBA free agency period has officially begun with players able to agree to new deals and teams around the league attempting to improve their rosters. Even though the Los Angeles Lakers are very limited in terms of signing players via free agency, that hasn’t stopped GM Mitch Kupchak and company from exploring options.
One option that the Lakers are currently looking into is signing or making a sign-and-trade for small forward Brandon Rush of the Golden State Warriors, according to MercuryNews.com:
“Looking to bolster one of the weakest benches in the league, the Los Angeles Lakers have made preliminary inquiries to the representative of Warriors small forward Brandon Rush.”
Last season, Rush had a decent impact off the bench for the Warriors with 9.8 points per games and some impressive shooting with 45.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Obviously, Rush isn’t much of a game-changer for the Lakers as he isn’t the missing piece to the championship puzzle or a player that is high up on the list of potential targets, but he would improve an area that the team is looking to address before next season.
With the Lakers willing to let Matt Barnes walk in free agency, Rush would be the replacement for the veteran forward. Acquiring the 26-year-old might be tricky with Rush being a restricted free agent and receiving a qualifying offer of $4 million from Golden State.
Other players that have also received some interest from the Lakers as of late are Nick Young, Lou Amundson, Chauncey Billups and Jose Calderon.