The Los Angeles Lakers are always one of the most active teams leading up to the NBA trade deadline. This year may be no different with the Lakers rumored to be shopping a few of the team’s veteran players.
According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, the Lakers are open to trading veterans Roy Hibbert and Nick Young:
The Los Angeles Lakers have been making calls to gauge what some of their veteran players are worth. The obvious answer on many of the higher dollar guys is not much. The Lakers are said to be open to trading guard Nick Young and center Roy Hibbert, but neither seem overly attractive on the trade front, especially if the Lakers have to take on salary that runs into the 2016 salary cap year.
Hibbert and Young being dealt elsewhere wouldn’t be surprising moves for the team to make if able to find trade suitors. Young’s name has been mentioned in numerous trade rumors over the past year or so and Hibbert recently surfaced in trade rumors with the Lakers potentially trying to ship him to a playoff contender.
With the Lakers on pace to miss the NBA playoffs for a third consecutive season, the team’s front office may be trying to clean house in preparation for an important offseason. This summer will be crucial to the team’s long-term future with the Lakers brass possibly going all out to bring a star free agent as well as hoping to hold onto their top-three protected draft pick.
Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan and Hassan Whiteside will likely be among the names linked to the Lakers over the coming months as top-priority targets in free agency. LSU’s Ben Simmons is also a player that will constantly be mentioned if the Lakers can keep their draft pick with the forward expected to be top prospect in the 2016 NBA Draft.
In the meantime, general Mitch Kupchak may look to unload veterans in exchange for draft picks. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of return Kupchak and company can get for players like Hibbert and Young if the team is intent on making some trades before the deadline on Feb. 18.