Why the Los Angeles Lakers would say yes to this Nemanja Bjelica trade:
On the surface, Lakers fans might feel like this is too much as they are giving up three players for one player from the Sacramento Kings. Isn’t that funny how it works, though? There are fans of both sides that would not like this package for various reasons.
The Lakers really are not losing that much, though. Neither Dudley or McKinnie have a consistent spot in the rotation and when the NBA Playoffs roll around they are not going to play at all. Sure, they lose some locker room presence, but that has not stopped the team from making moves before.
The one contributor that the team would lose is Markieff Morris. Some may be skeptical of this after Morris had a solid game against the Golden State Warriors but let’s not distract that from the fact that he has been pretty bad this season.
Bjelica has also not played up to his potential this season but he has still been better than Morris. Not only has his floor been higher this season, but his ceiling is much higher than Morris and he has been far more consistent throughout his career.
I broke down some crazy numbers surrounding Bjelica in yesterday’s article but it is clear that he is a better and more consistent option that would slide into Morris’ role perfectly.
And if all goes as planned, Bjelica is someone who the Los Angeles Lakers could keep around after the 2020-21 season for relatively cheap.