The Los Angeles Lakers are approaching Thursday’s trade deadline with the goal of salvaging their roster. They’re linked to a few names, but nothing is concrete at this time. One thing is for certain, they’d love upgrades at the wing. Right now, they’re lacking production from many members of their frontcourt. However, it appears they may be looking to do a deal with their lifetime foes, as they’ve been connected to the Celtics’ Josh Richardson per Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer below:
The Lakers are the latest team to have been linked to Boston’s efforts to trade Josh Richardson.
Avery Bradley has served as the starting shooting guard for most of the season. Recently, Malik Monk has taken over the position with stellar play. After that, Austin Reaves and Kent Bazemore have got the remaining minutes. Bazemore started the year, but fell off a cliff and was never able to find any footing. He’s one of the names to watch as a guy that the Lakers could move.
Historic hate between the two franchises can be tolerated when it comes to making transactions. Some will say that the Lakers and Celtics hate is much different than what most teams share.
Like the Lakers, the Celtics have had an up and down season. They’ve struggled balancing the talents of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown along with the rest of their roster. Given the fact that the contract with Josh Richardson is expiring after this season, the team is looking to collect some additional assets from a team more in need of Richardson’s services.
Richardson has served as a backup this season. He’s averaging 9.9 points in 24.9 minutes per game. At 6’5, he would bolster the Lakers size at the wing. He’d also bring more defense, as he’s made a name for himself on that end of the floor. Checking those two boxes are very important.
The next thing would be the package that the Lakers would send out. Richardson currently makes $11.1 million this season, with his contract expiring after that. The Lakers would almost certainly have to include Talen Horton-Tucker’s ~$9 million contract in addition to a veteran minimum. Other than that, the Lakers could possibly include Kendrick Nunn’s $5 million contract with A LOT of the Lakers’ veteran minimum players, but this seems very unlikely.
As for whether or not the Lakers would have to include draft compensation as well, only time will tell.
