The Los Angeles Lakers have been tied to Andre Iguodala since the summer but it appears as if the Lakers won’t get the veteran NBA Champion.
As soon asAndre Iguodalawas traded from the Golden State Warriors to the Memphis Grizzlies he became a fit for theLos Angeles Lakers. After the Grizzlies could not find a trade partner for Iguodala, it appeared like a buyout was likely and it was only a matter of time before Iguodala could sign with the team of his choice.
However, recent reports have derailed this thinking and now it looks like Iguodala will never suit up in the purple and gold, at least not this season.
ESPN’sAdrian Wojnarowski said thatthe Grizzlies have been telling teams that they are going to have to trade for Iguodala, that a buyout is not going to happen. With these new reports, the Dallas Maverickshave emerged as a new potential homefor Iguodala.
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Even if the Mavericks cannot strike a deal, another team will and the Lakers will be left in the dark. Frankly put, the Lakers do not have the assets to package together for an Iguodala trade that would be worthwhile for Memphis while also working with Iguodala’s $17 million salary.
So unless the Grizzlies have a sudden change of heart and no team is willing to trade for Iguodala, the Lakers’ chances of landing the veteran two-way player are zero.
This does increase the possibility of the Lakers trading for a different veteran, however, and is someone who we have deemed a potential fit before: JJ Redick.
Redick has more value to the New Orleans Pelicans in a trade than he does staying on the team and the Lakers can work out a deal much easier with the Pelicans than the Grizzlies.
Kentavious Caldwell-PopeandQuinn Cookare enough to match the salary of Redick. The Lakers can packageTalen Horton-Tuckerand rework the draft protections for theAnthony Davistrade and that might be enough to make New Orleans bite.
Of course, it does come down to whether or not the Pelicans find that valuable enough, but Redick would be a good fit on this Lakers team.
As great as the Lakers have been thus far this year, they have had a fairly easy schedule and are susceptible to teams that shoot the three-pointer well. Toronto beat Los Angeles in this fashion and if the Pelicans didn’t get cold from behind the three-point line on Wednesday then they would have beaten the Lakers as well.
The reason for this is that the Lakers are built to score from inside. Yes, they haveDanny Green, but he is the only one that is shooting threes well. The Lakersrank 21stin three-pointers made per game and13thin three-point percentage.
The Lakers don’t need to be the Golden State Warriors from beyond the arc, especially withLeBron Jamesand Anthony Davis on the roster. However, they would benefit from having one more great shooter alongside Green to come off the bench and that is exactly what Redick provides.
Redick is shooting48 percentfrom beyond the arc this season. If you directly replace KCP’s three-point production with Redick’s this season then the Los Angeles Lakers would rank seventh in three-point percentage and ninth in three-pointers per game.
Of course, we are comparing apples to oranges, as Redick is designed to take more threes on the Pelicans than KCP is on the Lakers, but it is apparent that Redick would be a huge upgrade from KCP in the shooting department. KCP still has the edge defensively.
To make up for that, Redick has a huge advantage in postseason experience. Redick has made the postseason every single season in his career.
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