The Los Angeles Lakers need a lob-catching center and would love to get their hands on Jalen Duren after nixing a trade for Mark Williams at this year’s trade deadline.
Lakers fans have been speculating about the possibility of a trade for Jalen Duren, which grew louder after it was reported that the Pistons had interest in free-agent Myles Turner as a stretch five.
Our friends at Lake Show Life suggested the Pistons might be able to work a deal involving Duren and Dalton Knecht, as the Pistons need shooting (especially if they lose one or more of their free agents) and the Lakers need a center.
It would take considerably more than just Knecht to land Duren, as Knecht is already 24 years old and Duren is fresh off an improved season where he played impact minutes in the playoffs.
The Lakers would have to kick in a draft pick or two, but even then, it’s unlikely the Pistons would be willing to part with their 21-year-old center with Knecht as the centerpiece of the trade, unless of course, he wasn’t.
The Detroit Pistons would have to have other plans in place at center
The Pistons have been connected to a number of stretch bigs including Turner, Naz Reid and Santi Aldama, all of whom have expressed interest in remaining with their current teams.
Turner and the Pacers are almost a certainty, as he’s been a huge part of their run to the Finals and has played his entire career in Indiana. Even if that weren’t true, the Pistons don’t have the cap space to sign Turner (or Reid for that matter) outright, so it would require other moves.
That could mean a sign-and-trade or one involving several teams, but if the Pistons were even entertaining the idea of trading Duren, they’d have to have something already in the works to replace him.
In other words, the Lakers can keep dreaming, but that’s all it will likely ever be, as the Pistons seem comfortable rolling with Duren, who they expect to continue to improve.
There would have to be a clear upgrade for them to even consider trading him and that seems unlikely given the free-agent landscape. Adding a stretch five would be the dream but they are hard to come by and the teams that have them aren’t letting them go without a fight.
The Pistons will continue to be fodder for trade rumors and speculation, but Trajan Langdon isn’t going to disrupt what he is building unless it is a clear win for Detroit.