As the Los Angeles Lakers sniff around the trade and buyout markets for some necessary depth, George Hill is a name getting some recognition. According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Lakers are among teams that have expressed interest in trading for the Oklahoma City Thunder guard.
Here’s the following via Fischer:
“Both Los Angeles teams and Philadelphia have expressed interest, according to league sources. The Thunder’s asking price appears clear. “They’re willing to [both] take back and trade salary for draft compensation,” one Western Conference official said.”
The Lakers do not have a first-round pick to trade until 2027 (and no they will not trade a first-round pick for Hill) but they do have a few seconds rounders that they could conceivably use to acquire the point guard. Whether that’s enough to nab him before the Clippers or another contender, is a different question. Of course, if the Thunder do not find a trade to their liking, Hill could get bought out by Thursday’s trade deadline. One would assume the Lakers would be a favorite to land the veteran in that event.
Hill has only played in 14 games for the Thunder this year as they opt for a more youthful roster but in that time, he has put up very solid numbers. Hill is averaging 11.8 points on 50.8% shooting from the field and 38.6% shooting from behind the arc as well as 3.1 assists per game. That is a level of production the Lakers could use as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wesley Matthews continue to struggle in the scoring department and Talen Horton-Tucker is forced to take on a bigger role.
All in all, don’t expect the Lakers to give up too much to get Hill but if another trade takes away some of their guard depth, he would be a nice fallback option as a replacement.
