The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the busiest teams in the pre-trade deadline market, and the organization made yet another move on Thursday by dealing big man Thomas Bryant.
Bryant is on his way to the Denver Nuggets, while the Lakers will be receiving Davon Reed and three second-round picks in return.
The Lakers are trading Thomas Bryant to the Nuggets for Davon Reed and three second-round picks, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023
According to a report, Bryant actually requested a trade from the Lakers.
Thomas Bryant grew unhappy with his diminished role since Anthony Davis returned and wanted to be in a better situation, per @ramonashelburne pic.twitter.com/TaGPbAINDt
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 9, 2023
Bryant was a really effective piece for the Lakers in the 2022-23 season and a major reason why the team was able to weather the storm when Anthony Davis went down with a foot injury earlier this season.
On the season, he’s dropping 12.1 points and grabbing 6.8 boards per game. When he was a consistent member of the Lakers starting lineup — from the middle of December to late January — those numbers went up to 14.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
It’s possible that the Lakers would have liked to hold onto Bryant as an insurance policy in case Davis went down with an injury once again. However, it looks like Bryant grew unhappy with his diminished role once Davis came back from injury.
With the Nuggets, he will surely serve as a backup behind reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.
As for the Lakers, it seems unlikely that Reed will play a major role in the team’s rotation. The 27-year-old shooting guard is putting up just 2.3 points in 9.0 minutes per game this season.
For the Lakers, the prime prize of the trade will likely be the future second-round draft picks. It’s not only because of who the team could ultimately select with those picks, but also because of the potential trade capital that they represent.
With a few hours left before the trade deadline comes and goes, the Lakers are likely very busy on the phones to try to add additional talent to the roster.
The Lakers got much better on Wednesday when they completed a trade to add D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt. Another trade or two could turn the Lakers into legit playoff contenders despite the fact that they are currently sitting at the No. 13 seed in the Western Conference.
The Lakers are just two games back from the No. 10 seed (the final seed to enter the play-in tournament) and only 4.5 games back from the No. 6 seed.
