Lakers Trade Rumors: DeMar DeRozan for Kyle Kuzma, Danny Green Interests LA

[Dejounte]

The Rondo role is what I initially envisioned,
but Rondo started taking 3s, w/o hesitation from the wing (he averaged 3.1 attempts per game, shooting 40% in the playoffs), and that's not even talking about the defensive side of the ball...

Meh. As much as I hate LeBron, he makes his teammates better. So who knows, maybe he will give DeMar confidence to shoot those 3s. Maybe it was LeBron's doing that Rondo shot better from 3.

Regarding defense, both LeBron and AD will hide his deficiencies on that end...

[Sugus]

But the cir stances are very different this time around. Green & Kuzma both expire after one year, freeing up cap space. If a pick is included, the Spurs could find a sleeper like Paul Reed at #28. Adding Green means he's a bench shooter, which means not having to re-sign Forbes. Kuzma could be used in another deal. Losing both DeRozan & Forbes means a huge leap forward for the team defensively.

Cir stances are different, but the optics remain the same - as do the feelings. Or so I'd hope... Maybe the pandemic has weakened Pop's ever-burning hatred of the Lakers?

But really... If the Spurs want cap space, they can always tell DeMar to walk now. They have a LOT of other ways to get a second FRP (Mills as per reported, Gay, LMA if GSW deal doesn't materialize, or even trading down from #11) instead of gifting the Lakers a B2B championship. I don't think Green is useful in his current form (better said, he'd be Forbes 2.0, Pop would overuse him to and back and we'd be back to complaining about Icy Cold Danny), and would rather turn the TV off than have to watch that MF certified scrub Kuzma on a B&W jersey. And again, there's a lot of ways to lose DD and Forbes that don't involve trading with the Lakers.

Is my view of the trade tainted by my perception of the Lakers and their situation? For sure. At the end of the day, it's up to the Spurs... I just hope they don't pull a DeRozan 2.0 and pass up better trade options just to do right (or wrong in the first case) by a certain player. We know DD wants Sunny LA as his destination, but I don't buy that the Lakers are the only ones interested in him.

[RC_Drunkford]

It just doesn't make sense to trade DeRozan to the Lakers if the Nets want him. That has been reported about a week ago. At least 2 of Dinwiddie, Levert, Prince, Allen and Harris could be part of a DeRozan package and you could still add Rudy and a 3rd Nets player. That would be a way better deal than Green, Kuzma and KCP

[mo7888]

It just doesn't make sense to trade DeRozan to the Lakers if the Nets want him. That has been reported about a week ago. At least 2 of Dinwiddie, Levert, Prince, Allen and Harris could be part of a DeRozan package and you could still add Rudy and a 3rd Nets player. That would be a way better deal than Green, Kuzma and KCP

Brooklyn can definitely offer a better package but would demar go there or simply opt out? That's the catch..

[Sugus]

It just doesn't make sense to trade DeRozan to the Lakers if the Nets want him. That has been reported about a week ago. At least 2 of Dinwiddie, Levert, Prince, Allen and Harris could be part of a DeRozan package and you could still add Rudy and a 3rd Nets player. That would be a way better deal than Green, Kuzma and KCP

Exactly this. It's going to come down to whether the Spurs can sell DeMar on the idea of going to Brooklyn, IMO, since the Nets wouldn't do the deal without confirmation from DD that he'd re-sign there after his contract is up.

Don't be a , Deebo, do us one last solid.

[rankingtear]

The ATL insider has been right so far in terms of Spurs rumors he said LAL does not like him.

[RC_Drunkford]

Brooklyn can definitely offer a better package but would demar go there or simply opt out? That's the catch..

He can't. Brooklyn has 125 million locked in in salary. It would have to be via sign and trade. I think DeMar would be down to play with Kyrie and KD on a contender in the East. He used to play for Toronto which is kind of similar city to NY, just a little cleaner I guess lol. That trade makes sense for all sides. Brooklyn would have to give up 2 role players to get their 3rd star and the Spurs get some young wings.

Exactly this. It's going to come down to whether the Spurs can sell DeMar on the idea of going to Brooklyn, IMO, since the Nets wouldn't do the deal without confirmation from DD that he'd re-sign there after his contract is up.

Don't be a , Deebo, do us one last solid.

Why would he say no? He gets to play for a contender, would be a lock for the finals, play with 2 other All-Stars, good team culture, big market, similar environment like Toronto. It won't get much better unless he's bent on playing in Los Angeles. And I don't think he's such a great fit to the Lakers and Clippers.

What is he gon do? Opt out to sign with the Knicks?

[cjw]

This. Y'all are saying DeMar is more valuable, but the Spurs have no leverage.

Think of it this way, would you trade DeMar for a top 10 pick in this draft? Absolutely. Would other teams trade that top 10 pick for DeMar? Likely not... Now, would you trade DeMar for a pick in the 10-20 range? I would, considering he could walk and I never liked his fit with us anyway. Teams in that range would deal their pick for DeMar. The next question is, is Kyle's trade value in the top 10 or the 10-20 range? Pretty sure it's in the 10-20 range too. Kyle and DeMar have the same value in the trade market.

Nobody wanted Kuzma last year, or else the Lakers would have cashed in. His value has only gone down. He’s worth a late first at best. One more year of cost control before RFA.

Demar has leverage as he can walk for nothing. But he has limited options where he can sign as those teams would need space, and opting in gives acquiring team bird rights for an extension

[Dejounte]

Nobody wanted Kuzma last year, or else the Lakers would have cashed in. His value has only gone down. He’s worth a late first at best. One more year of cost control before RFA.

Demar has leverage as he can walk for nothing. But he has limited options where he can sign as those teams would need space, and opting in gives acquiring team bird rights for an extension

So did Kuzma's value go down because he doesn't know how to play with LeBron or is it because he's reached his peak potential? He's never had a stable coaching situation. Not sure if the Lakers have developed him properly.

[Chinook]

It's a good structure (though it should need some extra salary to make it work), and 28 or even a 28/41 swap would be enough sweetener for me. People ing about Green need to take a break. He's an expiring contract, and even though he wasn't great last year, he should be good enough to fill a spot or be traded to another contender later on. Like they'd probably be able to send him to LAC or even to Philly with Mills as part of a Horford/Richardson trade. Kuzma isn't great, but he'd basically be a bigger younger and worse DMDR with option value. If the future lineup is going to be something like White/Walker/Johnson/_____/Poeltl, then yeah it works. That unit could use Kuz's scoring and would have a good defensive foundation. It'd also allow them to see if Samanic has developed to the point of letting Kuzma leave the next summer. Draft a guy like Smith at 11 and Woodard at 28 and run with this roster:


White/Murray
Walker/Weatherspoon
Johnson/Woodard
Kuzma/Samanic
Poeltl/Smith

That leaves out whatever would become of Gay, Green, Aldridge and Mills. Obviously, that's a lot of salary that could be for long-term salary and draft picks. Like maybe they do LMA and Green for Wiggins and the pick swap and Mills and Gay for Horford and Richardson. Then we could be talking about:

White/Murray
Edwards(2)/Walker/Weatherspoon
Richardson/Johnson/Wiggins
Kuzma/Lyles/Samanic
Poeltl/Horford/Oturu (28)

Rough-AF draft of course, and I haven't even looked at it in the Capulator. But still, it wouldn't be close to a bad off-season.

[R. DeMurre]

Nobody wanted Kuzma last year, or else the Lakers would have cashed in. His value has only gone down. He’s worth a late first at best. One more year of cost control before RFA.

Demar has leverage as he can walk for nothing. But he has limited options where he can sign as those teams would need space, and opting in gives acquiring team bird rights for an extension

Sacramento wanted Kuzma last year and offered Bjelica + a pick for him! God bless them. Bjelica would likely be better this upcoming year than any draft pick after #11: 11.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.8 spg, 41.9 3pt% in 28 mpg.

[Davidicus2]

Oof

[RC_Drunkford]

If we're talking moves I'd try to move DeRozan to BK for Levert/Harris, Aldridge to the Dubs for Wiggins and #2, Mills and Gay to Philly for Horford. We'd have all positions covered except for PF.

White/Murray/Weatherspoon
Levert/Walker
Harris/Keldon/Wiggins
Jalen Smith/Samanic
Horford/Wiseman

See what kind of veterans you can get in free agency and that's it. That's a well balanced young roster that could play a similar style of basketball like we played in 2014

[cjw]

Sacramento wanted Kuzma last year and offered Bjelica + a pick for him! God bless them. Bjelica would likely be better this upcoming year than any draft pick after #11: 11.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.8 spg, 41.9 3pt% in 28 mpg.

You’re right ... I thought the Kings rejected it but turns out it was Lakers that did. Insanity considering Bjelica is a useful player

[Chinook]

It's a good structure (though it should need some extra salary to make it work), and 28 or even a 28/41 swap would be enough sweetener for me. People ing about Green need to take a break. He's an expiring contract, and even though he wasn't great last year, he should be good enough to fill a spot or be traded to another contender later on. Like they'd probably be able to send him to LAC or even to Philly with Mills as part of a Horford/Richardson trade. Kuzma isn't great, but he'd basically be a bigger younger and worse DMDR with option value. If the future lineup is going to be something like White/Walker/Johnson/_____/Poeltl, then yeah it works. That unit could use Kuz's scoring and would have a good defensive foundation. It'd also allow them to see if Samanic has developed to the point of letting Kuzma leave the next summer. Draft a guy like Smith at 11 and Woodard at 28 and run with this roster:


White/Murray
Walker/Weatherspoon
Johnson/Woodard
Kuzma/Samanic
Poeltl/Smith

That leaves out whatever would become of Gay, Green, Aldridge and Mills. Obviously, that's a lot of salary that could be for long-term salary and draft picks. Like maybe they do LMA and Green for Wiggins and the pick swap and Mills and Gay for Horford and Richardson. Then we could be talking about:

White/Murray
Edwards(2)/Walker/Weatherspoon
Richardson/Johnson/Wiggins
Kuzma/Lyles/Samanic
Poeltl/Horford/Oturu (28)

Rough-AF draft of course, and I haven't even looked at it in the Capulator. But still, it wouldn't be close to a bad off-season.

So I have the Capulator link: http://www.shamsports.com/capulator?...2c833819733208

I had McGee going to Philly as part of what would be a three-team deal

SA DeRozan, Mills and Gay for Richardson, Kuzma, Horford, 28 and probably some stuff with second-rounders.

LAL: Green, McGee, Kuzma and 28 for DeRozan

PHL: Horford, Richardson and some stuff with seconds for Gay, Mills and McGee

Then I had SA trade Green and LMA to GS for Wiggins and pick swap (Green's going separately into a TE, so this doesn't need to be wrapped up in the LAL trade thankfully).

So yeah, with 13 players on the roster, the Spurs would be about $5 Million under the tax line. If they do get high-seconds from Philly as part of this deal, they might be able to draft a couple of good role-players and sign them into the depth chart. Or they have enough to offer an LLE-level deal to a free-agent vet PG to replace Mills. I don't love the idea of valuing Richardson so much in a post DMDR and LMA roster. I think they'd be better served getting back future value. But I can't also deny that that top-10 has some intriguing upside, even though a fair bit of it might only be around for another year or two.

[R. DeMurre]

Geez, Brian Wright & RC Buford seem to be working overtime! I picture them in a room with four ringing phones, an enormous pot of coffee, and easel & easel pad with the names:

Richardson, Green->? Kuzma-> Bjelica?

2:Wiseman, Edwards? Haliburton? 28:Reed? Bey, Azubuike? Riller?

Wiggins

[DJR210]

Add a first round pick and I'd do it, tbh.

in what? 2024? Didn't they mortgage their immediate future for AD?

[gambit1990]

Seems like the type of dumb trade SA would do.

[Bynumite]

Would be hilarious if Poop ends up caving on his vendetta against the Lakers and trades for a much worse laker than he could have had in Ingram

I don't wish having to live in Fat Antonio on my worst enemy but Kuzma's time in LA was up about 2 seasons ago.

[Russ]

DeRozan for nothing -- makes a lot of sense.

[Chinook]

Would be hilarious if Poop ends up caving on his vendetta against the Lakers and trades for a much worse laker than he could have had in Ingram

I don't wish living in Fat Antonio on my worst enemy but Kuzma's time in LA was up about 2 seasons ago.

I'm actually okay with the Spurs passing on Ingram. The best asset in the Davis trade was definitely the fourth pick. The lack of such a pick is why I could never get behind trading Leonard there. On RGM, we talked about Ball being moved to PHX or ORL for a top-10 pick. If they could've done that and offered it with Ingram and filler, I would've been just fine making the deal.

Unfortunately the Lakers had an awful GM at the time whose whole strategy was to tamper with guys and then try to low-ball for them. Didn't work once for him.

[Bynumite]

I'm actually okay with the Spurs passing on Ingram. The best asset in the Davis trade was definitely the fourth pick. The lack of such a pick is why I could never get behind trading Leonard there. On RGM, we talked about Ball being moved to PHX or ORL for a top-10 pick. If they could've done that and offered it with Ingram and filler, I would've been just fine making the deal.

Unfortunately the Lakers had an awful GM at the time whose whole strategy was to tamper with guys and then try to low-ball for them. Didn't work once for him.

In the end, it all worked out for the best to all parts involved. Lakers rang and spurs are back in the basement

[tmtcsc]

3 time champion Danny Green would instantly give this team the credibility it needs again.

Stop it. LA is giggling at the prospect of trading Green to someone. Absolute trash at this point.

[Chomag]

Trash trade, so Spurs FO would probably do it

[SpursDynasty85]

Don’t think Spurs would want Kizma unless he expressed interest... doesn’t feel like he is Spurs material now that he has tasted some Lakers success.