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Saturday night didn’t go the Los Angeles Lakers’ way.
Keon Ellis and De’Andre, two versatile wings who Los Angeles kept tabs on, were included in a blockbuster three-team deal featuring the Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings, and Cleveland Cavaliers (Ellis landed with the Cavaliers and Hunter landed with the Kings).
It’s not over for the Lakers, though, as there’s still time for Los Angeles to aggressively pursue other targets on the trade market.
Lake Show Life’s Tyler Watts predicts Los Angeles could land a 35-year-old Golden State Warriors forward in a trade involving Milwaukee Bucks phenom Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“The Warriors are not giving (Draymond) Green away,” Watts wrote Sunday. “He is a franchise icon and will have his jersey in the rafters of the Chase Center. Golden State doesn’t win their four championships without him. This is only happening if the Dubs can acquire a superstar.”
“To do so, Green and Jonathan Kuminga are the most likely matching salary to be used. If it is Giannis going to Golden State, the Bucks won’t want Green. He will be rerouted to a third team, which could easily be the Lakers.”
Offensively, Green isn’t a lethal scoring threat, but his distribution/playmaking ability helps him assert himself on that end of the floor.
Defensively, Green, while controversial at times, isn’t afraid to use his physicality to muck things up in the paint and force opponents to fight through contact to have any chance of converting around the rim.
The four-time NBA champion is averaging 8.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, and 0.9 steals per game with the Warriors this season, shooting 41.6% from the field 32.1% from three-point land.
Simply put, acquiring Green would be a beneficial move for the Lakers if it were to ever occur.
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