The Lakers are rumored to be trying to trade veteran center Roy Hibbert to a contender
The Los Angeles Lakers trading for Roy Hibbert this offseason was a curious move from Jump Street. It was never a big deal in terms of salary cap as the Lakers had a bit of flexibility and Hibbert’s deal is expiring after this season. However, it was curious to add a veteran piece to a team whose focus should be on player development and rebuilding.
Even more curious was the fact that the Lakers were seemingly bringing Hibbert into the fold as a sort of quick fix for their horrid defense, a strategy that was doomed from the start.
As this season is increasingly hopeless for the currently 9-34 Lakers and the organization is trying to set themselves up for a post-Kobe Bryant future, it appears they might try to trade Hibbert as the Lakers are rumored to be trying to find a playoff team to serve as a trade destination for the veteran center, as reported by Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders:
Roy Hibbert waived some of his trade kicker to land in LA... I was told Lakers trying to find him a playoff team. https://t.co/f0ulO2TqJB
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) January 18, 2016
Hibbert was always going to be a trade asset for the Lakers as he still has value to this league that isn’t realized in Los Angeles. Not only could he serve as a rotational rim-protector in the right situation, but he’s also an expiring contract which has increasing value given the salary cap jump coming this offseason.
An interesting trade partner would have been the Chicago Bulls with Joakim Noah—also on an expiring deal—coming to Los Angeles in return as the Lakers are likely to explore the possibility of signing Noah in free agency anyway. However, a seemingly season-ending injury for the Bulls big man puts a damper on that being a potential suitor for Hibbert.
Even still, there should be a viable market for Hibbert in terms of a trade. The key is going to be finding a trade partner that can match the center’s relatively sizeable salary without the Lakers jeopardizing one of their biggest strengths in terms of their massive amount of cap-room heading into 2016 free agency.