The Los Angeles Lakers traded Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and a slew of draft picks to the New Orleans Pelicans in the summer of 2019 for Anthony Davis. This is one of the greatest trades in franchise history, as the Lakers instantly won the NBA Championship.
Things have gone decent for the Pelicans. Brandon Ingram elevated his game to an all-star level, Josh Hart has been a really solid role player and the team flipped the Lakers’ draft capital in 2019 for even more draft capital. There is still a lot of future investment for the Pelicans that they can be excited about as well.
The one area where the trade has not worked out for the Pelicans is Lonzo Ball. Ball has not taken that next step with the Pelicans and now has his name tied up in trade rumors. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that teams are calling interested in Ball and JJ Redick and the Pelicans are listening.
Time will tell whether or not Ball is traded before the deadline. What we do now right now is that Ball is a restricted free agent after this season.
Whatever team Ball finds himself on is going to have the ability to match any offer sheet as well as have his Bird Rights. However, if Ball does not get traded this offseason, it would not be totally shocking if the Pelicans did not match his offer sheet.
Being a Lonzo Ball guy myself, I would love to see him back on the Los Angeles Lakers and I think there are tangible reasons why the Lakers should be interested in this kind of reunion.
Here is why I could see the Lakers signing Ball this summer.