Lakers: 3 Talen Horton-Tucker trades that now make perfect sense
By Jason Reed
3. Buddy Hield finally joins the Los Angeles Lakers
The Indiana Pacers have also entered the tank for Wembanyama sweepstakes as they traded Malcolm Brogdon for a bag of peanuts to the Boston Celtics. It seemed like Brogdon had way more value than that on the trade market and if his price was that low then it is safe to say that the Lakers can trade enough for Buddy Hield.
Plus, even though Hield’s contract is not that bad, teams are not lining up to trade for him. While he can be a really good off-the-ball scorer, he also does not play a lot of defense, which could be a problem.
Hield is not someone who is going to play in crunch time of a playoff game unless there is a lot of defense around him. There won’t be in LA. However, Talen Horton-Tucker is also someone who is not going to play in crunch time, so it evens out.
Los Angeles would have to attach Kendrick Nunn into the trade and while some Laker fans are high on Nunn, he is coming off of a year in which he did not play and the Lakers can replace him with another backup point guard.
Like the last trade, Mason Jones’ two-way rights are included in the trade to make the money work as the Lakers come just short of what they need to for Hield with just THT and Nunn.
Yes, the defense would need to be addressed with other signings but as an off-ball shooter that can get hot from three and cook off of LeBron and Anthony Davis, there are not very many options better than Hield.
Rob Pelinka almost traded for Hield last summer before he made the mistake of trading for Russell Westbrook. Perhaps now he can complete his destiny.