With LeBron James getting injured the weekend before the trade deadline coupled with a three-game losing streak, the Lakers Rumors are rampant with players on the roster being moved. Lake Show Life has been quieter than in previous seasons due to the lack of options the front office has. But one tweet turns into a report that the staff has to speak out on.
It didn’t take long for the Lakers rumors to go crazy did it? The Lake Show Life readers were prepared because…they were warned.
Thursday, March 25th at 3 PM EST is the mecca of NBA drama as the trade deadline comes to a close. The Los Angeles Lakers already were going to get some mentions in the rumor mill because Lakers rumors are internet gold to any NBA writer getting paid by the click. But last Saturday, LeBron’s high ankle sprain injury changed everything.
Bron appears to turn his ankle, stays in the game and hits a three, then heads to the locker room pic.twitter.com/OdTrDW77o1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 20, 2021
Since this turn of events, the Los Angeles Lakers’ offense has fallen off the cliff and they have lost three straight games that should be considered blowouts.
- Los Angeles Lakers lose game and LeBron James to injury against Hawks
- LeBron-less Los Angeles Lakers fight hard but fall to Phoenix Suns
- Los Angeles Lakers get blown out by Brandon Ingram’s Pelicans
- Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons in Ingram/Zion beatdown against Pelicans
With the Los Angeles Lakers lacking superstars and no clue as to when Marc Gasol will return to the lineup (Conditioning issues!), Lakers rumors have skyrocketed at the NBA trade deadline. Most would be considered ridiculous considering the team’s hard cap restrictions, but a new report indicating that the Los Angeles Lakers are willing to move on from offseason acquisition Dennis Schroder got the staff’s attention.
Of note regarding the Kyle Lowry-Lakers rumors: It seems Los Angeles became open to discussing all of Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with rival teams as of Monday night, and that chatter has not since quieted among league executives.
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) March 24, 2021
Now the rumor mill has gone from the Lakers considering locking up Dennis Schroder up with a possible 4-year $83 million extension to the trading block in less than a week? Really Lakers Nation?
Now that “The Menace” has now been added to a long list of players that the Lakers are apparently willing to part ways with. There are three players of real magnitude that Lake Show Life will cover leading up to the deadline. In reality, the rest of the roster is expendable not named LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Dennis Schroder:
Dennis Schroder has season averages 15.0 points, 4.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. Coming a year when he was runner up for the NBA 6th Man of the Year award, most believe he is stepping into his prime at 27-years-old.
Montrezl Harrell:
Montrezl Harrell has season averages of 14.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in 44 games (One start!). The reigning NBA 6th Man of the Year has been the most consistent Laker in the absence of the superstars as well as a dominant scorer at times throughout the season coming off the bench.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope:
It has been the classic “The best of times and worst of times” for KCP’s entire era in the Lakers “Purple and Gold”. When he is good (As shown in the NBA Finals in the bubble!) he is the perfect shooter on a LeBron James constructed team. When he is bad, social media use his play as a comedy special during and after Lakers games. Sadly, it’s the worst of times for KCP averaging about 8 points on seven shots a game. After a 1-7 effort against the Pelicans and a 0-5 clunker against the Hawks, his trade rumor is no surprise.
Everything behind the scenes is angling toward one player that is coveted by every championship contender in both conferences…Andre Drummond.
The Drummond chess match added a player when the LA Clippers reduced the number of players on their active roster to 13 when they traded Mfiondu Kabengele to the Sacramento Kings.
During ESPN’s trade deadline special on Wednesday afternoon, Adrian Wojnarowski added the Clippers to the list of potential suitors for Andre Drummond, if should he be bought out the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets are also rumored to be interested in better financial options.
Pelinka’s charge is handling these short-term issues.
- Keeping the Lakers competitive playing without superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
- Make sure the Lake Show does not fall outside the top six seeds in the Western Conference avoiding the play-in tournament before the playoffs.
- Doing all of this on a tight salary cap budget so they can make decisions in the offseason while paying massive luxury taxes.
Still, Lakers fans (Especially this writer!) trusts the front office that put together the team that won an NBA title less than six months.
Lake Show Life has put together a special trade deadline report breaking down the realistic odds of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schroder being traded on Thursday. The next several pages will break down theories from not only the Lakers but the other teams as well. These Lakers rumors surrounding these players are not completely performance-based (Okay…maybe for one of them they are!) but because their contracts are the easiest to move.
Let’s get started with the best performer in this list, Montrezl Harrell.