[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

for Kendrick Nunn and three future 2nd round picks.

It is a low cost move for the Lakers. They can always afford to buy a 2nd round pick if they need it. Kendrick Nunn showed promise in Miami, but has gone from injured to buried in LA. Rui has never quite fit in Washington. Part of that is he was at best a poor man’s Kyle Kuzma offensively, and Washington got Kyle Kuzma. He probably needs to improve his shot from behind the arc to get more than Wenyen Gabriel and JTA minutes, but we’ll see how he handles the open looks LeBron gets him. He could cut into the 30 or so minutes per they have been giving Troy Brown, but this would seem to be a short-term move as his rookie deal is up at the end of the season.

For Washington, I suppose once they determine that he won’t be back next year it makes some sense to just get what they can, but I would have thought they could have gotten a bit more. Like a lot of moves Washington makes, they don’t appear to have a clear understanding of how players may fit together. I don’t know if this move is a precursor to either trading or shutting down Beal and Porzingis, but it is hard to envision them losing enough to get top 4 odds. Houston, Detroit, Charlotte, and San Antonio seem to have that locked down.

[HitsterParticipant]

The Lakers have given up a few second rounders some several years away to get a guy who was a top 10 pick has scored in double figures every NBA season and isn’t 25 yet. They apparently want to resign him and once they get Westbrook’s contract off the books they should be able to.

The Wizards have Kuzma and Avdija who need minutes and Rui wanted out so they have got a decent player in return and some 2nd round picks. The Wizards could shut down guys but as BTPH says the bottom 4 are several games worse off and a lot will depend if any other teams hit reset bottom before trade day. There has always been talk the Pacers get a decent return for a couple of their serviceable players but I don’t see another team looking to make a major reset move.

The Knicks have all those picks due and may look to make a run at someone and have DRose’s deal with a nice team option for next year to help balance salaries. But I don’t see an obvious deal out there for them to make. Dame at Blazers is back to his best and the Blazers look likely lottery again but Knicks have Brunson at PG so not a clear fit there.

[armchairgmParticipant]

Good trade for Lakers as they gave up minimal assets to address their biggest need a backup PF/SF, and they say they already talked with his agent and the plan for him is to sign long term there. I think it also sets dominoes to start to fall for the Lakers as now this takes them out of the race for a max free agent and they need to go all in trading their big contracts (Westbrook) for long term big money in order to fully maximize salary going forward.

[Author]

Posts