2. The Los Angeles Lakers avoided a bad trade
The Lakers thoroughly explored a trade with Toronto for 35-year-old point guard Kyle Lowry. But Pelinka rightfully decided that the asking price was too high.
It had once been a foregone conclusion that the team would re-sign Dennis Schroder. But so far his salary demands have been too steep, so Pelinka was apparently willing to include him and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in a prospective trade.
The player Pelinka refused to include, however, was 20-year-old Talen Horton-Tucker, who has made great strides this season after spending virtually all of his rookie year in the G League. THT is just starting to tap his potential and is bound to continue to improve. Pelinka correctly recognizes that he can be an integral part of the Lakers future.
Lowry, who earns $30 million this season, is a better, more consistent point guard right now that Schroder is. If the Lakers’ sole goal was winning the title this year, perhaps they should have gone all in. But it’s impossible to know how good a fit Lowry would have been alongside LeBron and AD. And nobody can be certain how well the star duo will play when, or even if, they return to the court
Lowry, whose contract expires once the season ends, would have been a short-term rental. The Lakers wouldn’t have expected that they’d re-sign him.
Perhaps Pelinka remembered the two bad deadline deals the Lakers made two years ago, when they traded both Ivica Zubac and Svi Mykhailiuk for players that contributed little and weren’t re-signed, Mike Muscala and Reggie Bullock.
Whatever the reason, Pelinka is to be commended for considering the big picture. In the days ahead he will likely sign another perimeter player- not one as impactful as Lowry might have been, but one who doesn’t require breaking up the roster.