3 non-Russell Westbrook trades to beef up the Lakers roster
By Jason Reed
2. Turning one year into two for a shooter
Whether or not a trade like this happens depends on how much the Lakers want to pinch pennies for next summer. Russell Westbrook is coming off the books and while they are spinning it as a great chance for cap space, the reality is that they don’t want to be hit with even more taxes for hitting the repeater tax again.
When it comes to overall salary, the Lakers are not taking on much more if they were to swap Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn for Evan Fournier. They would actually be saving $250,000 this season by making this move.
So why would the Knicks trade away Fournier? The sharpshooting guard has not been what the Knicks were hoping for and he has seen his role in the rotation shrink as a result. Fournier is averaging 20.8 minutes per game, which is down nearly 50% from the minutes he was getting last season.
This is a salary-cap play for the Knicks if they were to make this trade. Fournier has another year under contract next season and then a club option for the following year. If New York wants to get out of his contract, they very well could take some expiring deals and a second-round pick for him, especially if they are not in a spot to contend (they aren’t).
No other team is really going to offer that much as Fournier has seen his shooting get worse in New York. Still, he would be the best shooter in LA and the Lakers would be taking a flier on a guy who is a career 38.1% three-point shooter and has proven he can play solid defense.