Getty Indiana Pacers guard Justin Holiday.
The trade deadline is closing in and trade rumors surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers have gotten very quiet. The team would love to make some kind of deal as the season has been disappointing to this point. Unfortunately, the team doesn’t have many great tradeable assets. At this point, the team would be lucky to pull off any kind of deal.
If the Lakers make a trade, it won’t likely be a huge blockbuster. That said, they could still find a solid piece. The Indiana Pacers are sellers at the upcoming deadline and already dealt forward/guard Caris LeVert to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team likely hopes to make a couple of more trades. Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report sees the Lakers as a good trade partner for Indiana. He proposes Los Angeles sends Kent Bazemore, DeAndre Jordan, a 2023 second-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick to the Pacers for guard/forward Justin Holiday:
Holiday would be a perfect fit, as he’s making $6 million this season and $6.3 million next year. At 6’6″, he’s a perfect switchable defender who’s shooting 38.0 percent from three this season.
The Lakers would need to send out two minimum-salary players to make the money work, which also opens up an extra roster spot for the buyout market.
Indiana can choose to keep Bazemore and Jordan or buy them out immediately. This deal is about collecting a pair of second-round picks and saving $6.3 million in cap space going into the summer.
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This Would Be a Great Deal for the Lakers
The Lakers would be thrilled if they can convince the Pacers to make this deal. As Swartz noted, Holiday is a strong fit in Los Angeles. He could play shooting guard or small forward and give them a boost defending the perimeter. Holiday isn’t a big scorer as he only averages 8.7 points a game over his career but the Lakers don’t need an elite scorer. If he could hit some threes and play some defense, he’d be a strong asset for the team.
Plus, this trade wouldn’t force the team to give up Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn, who could both be impact players this season. For the Pacers, they’d get a couple of expiring contracts in Bazemore and Jordan. They’d also get a couple of second-round picks for a player who likely isn’t in the team’s future plans. It’d be a solid deal for both teams.
Will Lakers Actually Make a Trade?
The Lakers are always one of the most talked about teams at the trade deadline but rarely pull off moves. General manager Rob Pelinka appears to be apprehensive to pull the trigger on trades during the season. Last year, the team could’ve traded for Kyle Lowry at the deadline but didn’t want to send Horton-Tucker to Toronto. That ended up being a mistake in hindsight.
Perhaps Pelinka regrets not making a move at last season’s deadline and doesn’t want to repeat the same mistake. However, the Lakers had better assets to trade last season. No matter how bad the team wants to make a deal, it’s going to be difficult with the pieces that they have.
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