Getty The Lakers and Knicks are talking about trades.
The New York Knicks find themselves over .500 with their win over the Sacramento Kings on December 11, and with two games coming up against the struggling Chicago Bulls, the team has the chance to cement themselves as true playoff contenders.
Their latest success comes after taking Derrick Rose, Evan Fournier and Cam Reddish out of the rotation, and while that might just be a coincidence, it does seem like it’s been a move that has paid off for coach Tom Thibodeau so far.
Evan Fournier, the Knicks record holder in three-pointers made in a season, is still somebody who can shoot the ball, and although he didn’t show that this season he’s expected to draw interest from shooting deprived team.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports the Los Angeles Lakers are one such team, and they are looking at both him and Reddish as potential options.
Lakers Interested in Reddish & Fournier
Charania says the Lakers have talked with the Knicks about adding Fournier and Reddish, and they’ve had similar discussions with the Detroit Pistons about adding Bojan Bogdanovic.
“The Lakers are prioritizing shooting in their conversations with teams, and have discussed packages including salaries and a protected first-round pick for Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic, league sources, who were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, tell The Athletic,” Charania reported. “They’ve also discussed concepts involving New York’s Cam Reddish and Evan Fournier, sources said.”
With the Lakers turning their season around, it seems like they are gearing up for a playoff run, and it’ll be tough for them to make real noise without more scorers on the team. While Austin Reaves has looked good for the team, adding proven scorers will help out in a big way.
Both Bogdanovic and Fournier would fit those roles, but it would require the Lakers to give something up in exchange for them. The Lakers don’t have a ton of assets to include in a deal for either player, so they might have to get creative.
With Russell Westbrook flourishing in his sixth man role, he might not even be a lock to be included in a trade anymore, which would mean it’s difficult for them to match salaries.
Why Reddish?
Fournier and Bogdanovic make a lot of sense for the Lakers, but Reddish is more of a wild card here.
Being 23 years old means Reddish has plenty of time to realize his potential and even turn into a star. He’s a former lottery pick and has shown flashes of greatness, but he’s never been able to put it together consistently. Teams are certainly interested in seeing where his career goes, but it doesn’t make a ton of sense for a contender to grab him.
If he’s struggling to find minutes on a Knicks team that’s fighting for a playoff spot, how will a team looking to win a championship work him into their rotation? For the Lakers, they’re already playing a bunch of young players so Reddish could definitely work there on paper, but Fournier seems like a much better option considering the open looks he’d get playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.