As the trade deadline is a month away, NBA trade rumors are going to start heating up. The Los Angeles Lakers have been involved in trade rumors many times in the past few years, expectedly so as they try to build the perfect championship roster to surround LeBron James, and now, Anthony Davis. A Lakers player’s name has already been thrown into the rumor mill, and that name belongs to Kyle Kuzma.
It was reported yesterday that Kyle Kuzma was being asked about in trade talks, specifically by the Sacramento Kings. A deal with the Kings would reportedly be Kuzma for three-point specialist Bogdan Bogdanovic, although the report later disputed that a trade would only be the two switching sides, straight up.
The report (first discussed here by Marc Stein/The New York Times) insinuated that the Kings were the ones to call Rob Pelinka and the Lakers about what it would take to trade for Kyle Kuzma. However, it’s now being reported that Pelinka was the one to initiate trade talks, via Tania Ganguli and Broderick Turner/LA Times.
This year the Lakers would like to conduct their business more quietly, though reports already have surfaced that teams are calling about Kyle Kuzma. According to a person familiar with the conversation, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka initiated a call with Sacramento to gauge the Kings’ interest in Kuzma.
This is interesting, as it’s also been reported that Pelinka and the Lakers aren’t trying to do any drastic trades, but instead they’re trying to round out the edges of their roster. Tania Ganguli confirms this much in the report as well.
A person familiar with the team’s plans said the Lakers, who have the best record in the Western Conference, don’t plan to make any dramatic moves, but would be interested in improving the “fringes” of their team if the right deal arises.
That tidbit is interesting, as she also confirms that a source said that everyone not named LeBron James and Anthony Davis could be traded. You have to wonder if Pelinka is gauging other teams’ interests in the Lakers’ other players, as he tries to add the final pieces to a possible championship roster.
Stay tuned with us for any other trade deadline updates before February 6th comes around.
