With all three of the Lakers point guards dealing with injuries, many have speculated whether the Lakers would make a move for another point guard by either free agency or via trade. Gilbert Arenas has thrown his own name into the hat while others have wondered if the Lakers could make a move for Kyle Lowry, who the Toronto Raptors have recently put on the block.
The Lakers, however, have reportedly made a call for Knicks swingman Iman Shumpert, according to ESPN.
“The Lakers recently called the Knicks to express their interest in Iman Shumpert, according to sources close to the situation.”
In the report, it says that a trade isn’t imminent, and that the Lakers are simply doing their due diligence — a call that is essentially seeing how hard the Knicks are shopping Shumpert.
With Shumpert being a wing, it’s hard to see the Lakers making a move for him considering the Lakers have a wealth of guys who can play either the 2 or 3 spots in Mike D’Antoni’s offense.
The report went on to say that the Lakers are considering making an offer to the Knicks about center Tyson Chandler.
Sources say the Lakers are also interested in another Knicks player — center Tyson Chandler. The Lakers did not inquire about Chandler when they called about Shumpert, but they are weighing whether to propose a Pau Gasol-for-Chandler trade, according to sources.
This deal also seems unlikely as Chandler is set to make $14.5 million in the 2014-15 season, something that the Lakers are trying to avoid going into this summer — especially for a center who has dealt with injury issues over the last few seasons. The Knicks likely wouldn’t deal Chandler, either, unless a team is willing to take on J.R. Smith, who signed a three-year deal with the Knicks worth $18 million this past summer.
Neither of those situations seem ideal for the Lakers, and they’ll likely remain pat or look to make improvements else where. This Lakers team will not be in any kind of rush to make a deal as they’re set on their plan to have financial flexibility over the next two summers.
Rumors about deals are likely to continue to pop up until the trade deadline in February, but a deal would have to make perfect sense for the Lakers for anything to get done.
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