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One of the hurdles in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ pursuit of Portland Trail Blazers star forward Jerami Grant is their unwillingness to give up their two first-round picks.
The gap could be more than that as The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported the Trail Blazers also do not want the Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell, the salary ballast in the potential Grant trade.
“I’ve heard Portland doesn’t want D-Lo because they have a million guards anyway,” Buha said on his podcast “Buha’s Block” on July 26. “So, it just doesn’t really make sense for them.”
Buha added that the Lakers have been shopping the former All-Star point guard since he opted. But Russell is among the group of the Lakers trade assets that have neutral to negative value, according to Buha.
Russell was the Lakers’ third-leading scorer last season behind their stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, averaging 18.0 points. He was also their best 3-point shooter, hitting 41.5% on a high-volume 7.2 attempts. Yet his struggles on the defensive end have crushed his market value that’s why he opted into his $18.7 million player option rather than test free agency.
According to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report, the Blazers’ asking price for Grant is the Lakers’ 2029 and 2031 first-round draft picks.
LA Daily’s Anthony Irwin reported the Lakers have been unwilling to meet that price.
Rui Hachimura ‘Has Some Appeal’ on Blazers
While the draft pick compensation and Russell’s inclusion remain the sticking point in the Lakers-Blazers trade talks, Japanese forward Rui Hachimura “has some appeal” to the Trail Blazers, according to Highkin.
Hachimura will enter the second season of a three-year, $51 million deal that will pay him $17 million this upcoming season.
The 26-year-old Hachimura had a double-double in Japan’s opening day loss to Germany in the Olympics with 20 points and 10 rebounds along with 2 blocks and 2 assists.
He is coming off a career season, averaging 13.6 points on 53.7% field goal shooting and 42.2% from the 3-point line in his first full season with the Lakers.
Hachimura did not become a full-time starter for the Lakers until Jarred Vanderbilt went down with a foot injury in February. The 6-foot-8 Hachimura averaged 15.4 points on 57.5% field goal shooting and 44.4% from the 3-point line in 39 starts.
The Lakers were 3.3 points better per 100 possessions when Hachimura was on the floor during the regular season, per Basketball Reference. That changed drastically in the playoffs in their 4-1 loss to the Denver Nuggets as the Lakers were 5.3 points better when he was off the court.
Can Lakers Squeeze More in Jerami Grant Trade?
If the Trail Blazers insist on asking for the Lakers’ remaining draft capital, they might as well ask for more than Grant to fill their other glaring need.
Lakers’ new coach JJ Redick made it known he needs a big bruising man to ease Davis’ defensive burden.
Buha believes the Lakers’ best path to grant Redick’s wish is via trade.
“I don’t see that big man being out there in free agency,” the Lakers reporter said on his podcast “Buha’s Block” mailbag on July 16. “It’s probably going to have to be a player that they go out and get in a trade and maybe they do one of these trades for one of these wings and they’re able to rope in a big man.”
One of the trade ideas Buha floated was expanding the Grant trade talks.
“If they go and get a Jerami Grant, could they also get a Robert Williams in that trade? So there are ways to lump in a big man,” Buha said. “My understanding is again like it’s on their to-do list [to get a big man] but they’re also looking at these wings that can space the floor and can also defend multiple positions and it seems like that has been the greater emphasis for them over the last few weeks but right now, you know if that’s 1A this is 1B.”
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