NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Sunday that the Los Angeles Lakers have offered some combination of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma to virtually every team in the NBA.
It seems that the team is looking to trade for a guard to replace free agent Dennis Schroder.
Adrian Wojnarowski says the Lakers have offered KCP and Kuzma to "almost every team" in the league pic.twitter.com/e38eTZeTgB
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) July 25, 2021
“They have literally offered Kyle Kuzma and KCP to almost—almost every team I’ve talked to in the league has been offered some combination of Kuz and KCP,” Wojnarowski said. “Sometimes both of them, one of them. That’s not going to get them back a point guard of Dennis’ stature.”
The Lakers’ top priority this offseason is to bring in a true facilitator, and it seems like the team is going to pursue every possible avenue in order to accomplish that goal. There have been rumors of the Lakers going after superstar point guard Russell Westbrook, but he’s not the only player who would fill the Lakers’ need for a playmaker.
Caldwell-Pope and Kuzma might not warrant much of a return on the trade market. Both players are coming off of difficult campaigns.
In the 2020-21 season, Caldwell-Pope averaged 9.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He displayed his ability to knock down 3-pointers, as he shot 41.0 percent from deep, but he was underwhelming in most other areas.
As for Kuzma, he averaged 12.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the field. He had a brutal postseason and was part of the reason the Lakers took an early exit.
Los Angeles seems to be getting creative with its pursuit for a point guard, and it will be interesting to see where it leads.
