Where did it all go disastrously wrong for Kent Bazemore and the Lakers?

The 2022 NBA trade deadline is officially six days away and it’s go-time for the Los Angeles Lakers. Los Angeles is a far cry from the team that people thought that it would be. The same applies to Kent Bazemore.

The Lakers signed Bazemore last August to a one-year deal eight years after he had last played with Los Angeles in 2013-14. It was supposed to be a reunion that would end in the 10-year veteran wing hoisting his first Larry O’Brien trophy.

That’s why Bazemore turned down a higher-paid offer with the Warriors. He believed that his best shot at winning a title would be with LeBron James and the Lakers. If it were two years ago, he would’ve been on the right path. As of right now, Los Angeles (25-28) is ninth in the West and Golden State (40-13) is second.

If only the 32-year-old had a time machine. Here we are six months later, and the Lakers are looking into trading Bazemore before the Feb. 10 deadline.

The Los Angeles Lakers reunion with Kent Bazemore has been a bust.

Bazemore went from starting the first 13 games of the season to falling completely out of the rotation.

In the 31 games that he’s played in for Los Angeles, he started in 14 of those contests. He’s averaging 3.7 points (the lowest for him since 2013-14) and 1.7 rebounds (the lowest since 2013-14) per game. He’s shooting a career-low 32.8% from the field and 35.4% from the 3-point line.

Bazemore’s averaging 14.7 minutes per game, which is five minutes less than what he was averaging with the Warriors last year.

Since the start of 2021, he’s played a total of 58 minutes in nine games and for a combined 20 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds, and one steal. Bazemore was a greater contributor in the Lakers’ first three games of the season.

What in the world happened?

To be fair to Bazemore, what was supposed to be a dream season for Los Angeles has turned into a disaster. He’s one of the few players that the Lakers landed in the offseason that just don’t fit. Looking back, there were too many different moving parts that were expected to come together as one, and that hasn’t happened.

Things are so bad that Los Angeles is eyeing Brooklyn’s Paul Millsap in the buyout market. It might not sound like it’s true but somehow Millsap’s been even less of a non-factor for the Nets than Bazemore has been for the Lakers.

However, to make a spot for Millsap, Los Angeles is going to need to get rid of someone, and the rumors have pointed towards that someone being Bazemore.

This is the opposite of what Bazemore and the Lakers envisioned a few months ago. Let’s hope that if a deal is done Los Angeles won’t have to attach a draft pick to the wing. And maybe, just maybe, the Lakers will get a decent role player in return.