Lakers Rumors: DeMar DeRozan Open to Trade, Latest on Danny Green and Kyle Kuzma

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Ashley Landis/Associated Press

The NBA has not lifted the moratorium on trades as of Sunday, but the rumor mill has been firing hot over the past week as the league prepares for a Dec. 22 start.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been mentioned in several discussions, with general manager Rob Pelinka not satisfied with resting on their championship season.

Here is a look at some of the latest buzz from Los Angeles.

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Kim Klement/Associated Press

The rumor: Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reported the Lakers have internally discussed sending Kyle Kuzma and Danny Green to the Spurs for DeMar DeRozan.

The good news? DeRozan seems more than willing to head home. The Compton native appeared on All the Smoke recently and all but asked the Lakers to make a trade, saying:

“For me it’s just I’ve learned being in the league so long that you always want to be wanted. So when you see things about teams wanting you, you can’t feel a certain type of way. You’d better feel good about it because there’s some motherf–kers that’s not wanted. You don’t want to be that person. So to be wanted by a championship team that just came off a championship, to see that, how could you not feel some type of way? Especially me, being from L.A., it’s like ‘damn, my hometown team want me? They just came off a championship and they want me?’ It’s definitely crazy to be able to see that.”

DeRozan isn’t a perfect fit for the Lakers. They need an upgrade who is capable of spacing the floor beyond the arc, a facet DeRozan has essentially eliminated from his game. DeRozan took just 35 threes all of last season, as Spurs coach Gregg Popovich encouraged him to cut threes out of his game and focus on his efficient mid-range efforts.

The change worked. DeRozan drilled a career-high 53.1 percent of his shots last season, which included a solid clip in the mid-range. Another rim attacker with LeBron James and Anthony Davis is less than ideal, but DeRozan could theoretically prop up the second unit and contend for a Sixth Man of the Year award. 

The Lakers also can’t especially be choosy in this situation. Their trade package of Kuzma and Green isn’t exactly going to lead to an overflowing of offers. Kuzma was borderline unplayable in the Finals and hasn’t improved much since his breakout rookie season, while Green’s free-agent signing was a $30 million bust.

The best the Lakers could hope for in trade talks is a team looking to get out from under a longer-term contract in the $20 million-25 million range and views Kuzma as an asset.

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Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

The Rumor: Ian Begley of SNY.tv reported the Lakers have had talks about moving Danny Green.

Moving Green in theory? Smart. His two-year, $30 million contract was a bust and a representation of the poor job management did last offseason in chasing Kawhi Leonard rather than targeting more realistic options around LeBron and AD.

A championship negates all worthy criticism, but it’s telling that Begley’s report comes irrespective of a potential DeRozan/another veteran trade. It’s possible the Lakers have interest in simply dumping Green’s salary, which would be understandable from a value standpoint but not so much in terms of team building.

The Lakers could get under the cap by dumping Green, waiving non-guaranteed contracts and allowing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to leave in free agency. Just not meaningfully so. There is no avenue for a Fred VanVleet signing, for instance.

The Lakers would be smart to keep Green’s $15 million hold on their books to stay over the cap and have their full mid-level exception available. Most players the Lakers would target are in the mid-level range or would be willing to take a one-year discount to compete for a championship.

Green, despite being a disappointment from a contractual standpoint, is still a solid NBA rotation player. There is no reason to trade him unless he’s part of a package with Kuzma for a DeRozan type.

Worst-case scenario, the Lakers could bring back their full roster from last season along with a mid-level signing and be an even more complete team than they were in 2019-20.

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John Locher/Associated Press

The Rumor: Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported the Lakers worked out Arizona guard Nico Mannion. 

The Lakers have the No. 28 pick in Wednesday’s draft, but it would be a surprise if that player wound up in purple and gold. It’s far more likely that the Lakers will immediately look to trade the player taken at No. 28, along with Kuzma and Green, in a deal to improve the roster around Davis and LeBron.

If the Lakers do keep their pick, Mannion is an interesting fit. The 6’3″ point guard fits the bill as an eventual second-team ball-handler who’s capable of knocking down shots and facilitating on the perimeter. His athleticism is more leaping ability than side-to-side quickness, and he occasionally struggled to create space for himself off the dribble at Arizona.

That said, at pick No. 28 in a weak draft, the Lakers could do a whole lot worse than Mannion. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has him ranked No. 25 overall in the class, so he would represent some value at that spot.