It would be hard to blame anybody for putting such things out of their mind on a week like this but as the Los Angeles Lakers ease their way back to business as usual, the rest of the NBA is working the phones with less than a week to go before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Earlier this season, we heard rumors about a potential deal involving Kyle Kuzma and the Sacramento Kings. But now we have a little bit more information on those trade talks from The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor. The Kings weren’t exactly keen on including Bogdanovic, which was a request from the Lakers after the Kings offered a pick and Nemanja Bjelica for Kuzma.
The Kings offered Nemanja Bjelica and a pick to the Lakers for Kyle Kuzma, and Los Angeles countered by asking for Bogdanovic, according to multiple league sources. Sacramento refused.
It makes a ton of sense why the Lakers would want Bogdanovic, a player who has been a very good 3-point shooter for his entire career and someone who handles the ball better than Kuzma. But that’s why the Kings were smart not to budge on keeping Bogdanovic.
Bjelica is a better shooter than Kuzma, but he’s not a clear-cut upgrade, either. The trade talks date back to earlier this month and with only a few days to go until the deadline, it would be unwise to say the Lakers won’t do anything. But given that team chemistry has been such a key part of their success this season, potentially eroding that strength by giving up Kuzma for a marginal upgrade may be too much of a risk for the potential return.
[lawrence-related id=26141,26102]