Two versions of a Bogdanovic trade with Los Angeles Lakers
What would the Los Angeles Lakers consider a good trade for Bojan Bogdanovic?
A hat tip for to the NBA Front Office show on YouTube for coming up with a proposed Lakers-Pistons trade that they believe would make sense – from the Lakers perspective. One of the hosts is Trevor Lane, who also hosts the Lakers Nation show, so he is plugged into the thoughts of Lakers fans.
Remember, the Lakers are in ‘win-now’ mode, as LeBron James is turning 38, Anthony Davis is injury prone and Russell Westbrook is in the last year of his contract. The rest of the roster is bereft of talent, particularly young talent.
The slender thread of hope for anything but a disastrous future for Lakers fans is their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, as the rest of the firsts were traded in the Davis and Westbrook trades.
Should the Detroit Pistons cash in on Bojan Bogdanovic now?. light. Related Story
So those first-rounders are precious to the Lakers, but first round picks would be what the Pistons are most interested in, as a rebuilding team. So, what would a good trade, in the Lakers opinion, look like? Here is what NBA Front Office came up with:
At least Los Angeles did not insult the Pistons intelligence and try and foist Westbrook on them.
Bringing back former Oakland University star Kendrick Nunn would be kind of neat, but not at this price. Nunn missed all of last season due to injury and he is still shaking off a lot of rust, shooting just 27.7% on three-point attempts this year
Beverly is kind of a Cory Joseph-clone, except better as a player but more confrontational on the court. Also to consider, his attitude being sent to a team at the bottom of the standings might not be the best.
Neither moves the needle much for Detroit, and certainly do not make up for the loss of Bogdanovic, who is averaging 21 points a game while also providing a mentoring role to the younger players.
Protected pick? Big deal, Pistons general manager Troy Weaver has shown he can get a mid-round first rounder when he needs to.
Mystery of Bojan Bogdanovic trade to Pistons for pittance solved. light. Related Story
Does this work?: To the Lakers, this might seems like a reasonable proposal, but the Pistons would give this a big, fat NO!