Lakers Working On Big Trade With Timberwolves?
Are the Lakers working on a big trade with the Timberwolves?
Kyle Kuzma has been at the center of a lot of trade rumors in recent weeks.
The most recent one has the 23-year-old being dispatched to Minnesota in return for Robert Covington.
In order to understand why the deal is being discussed, it is first important to understand where both teams currently stand.
The Lakers are presently 33-7 through 40 games and on an eight-game winning streak.
As the top team in the Western Conference at the moment, they seem a lock for a championship run of some sort.
Unfortunately, the big problem LA is facing right now is that it has some very notable depth, shooting and playmaking issues that will get exposed in the postseason.
That is why team general manager Rob Pelinka has pledged to make changes before the trade deadline – to shore those weaknesses up.
The Timberwolves, meanwhile, are 15-24 and sit at No. 12 in the Western Conference.
For all intents and purposes, their season is already over. It would make sense for them to deal a coveted role player like Covington to a championship contender in return for young talent.
Covington would be a great fit on the Lakers, but he would come at a steep price.
That price? Kuzma.
According ESPN NBA analyst Bobby Marks, the Lakers might be trying to put together a “blockbuster” deal centered around Kuzma ahead of the looming trade deadline.
He thinks the Lakers could package “Kuzma, Quinn Cook and the injured DeMarcus Cousins” in order to get the deal done.
Kuzma is one of the more beloved Lakers players and has a ton of potential, but his numbers have dipped alongside Anthony Davis this year and he has not proven himself a reliable third option behind Davis and LeBron James.
Pelinka may prefer a proven three-and-d guy for a deep playoff run than the streaky Kuzma, with whom its always feast or famine.
Will a deal between LA and Minnesota definitely get done? Obviously not. Anything can happen to disrupt a potential trade.
But is there a very good chance of it happening? Absolutely.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
