3 trades that could bring Bojan Bogdanovic to the Los Angeles Lakers
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Detroit Pistons on Sunday and in classic Lakers fashion, the trade rumors surrounding one of Detroit’s own started to swirl after he impressed against the Lakers in person.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Monday that the Lakers have discussed trade packages for Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic. Bogdanovic was loosely tied to the over the summer before he eventually was traded to Detroit.
Bogdanovic signed a two-year extension with the Pistons prior to the 2022-23 season, making him more valuable than an expiring contract for Los Angeles. Detroit has no real shot of making the playoffs this year and should be tanking for Victor Wembanyama, so trading a veteran for assets makes all the sense in the world.
The Lakers may end up getting creative to get Bogdanovic in Los Angeles as there are multiple ways for the team to pull off a trade for his services.
3 trades the Los Angeles Lakers can make for Bojan Bogdanovic:
1. The straight-up, simple approach
This is the most simple path that the Lakers could take and is right in line with the packages that Shams reported the team has discussed. Los Angeles would be trading its expiring contracts that really have no value to the team along with a pick to get Bogdanovic in LA.
The logic here is simple for the Lakers. The team would be turning disappointing players in Beverley and Nunn into a potential huge asset in Bogdanovic. They would have to attach a first-round pick as those players have no real trade value outside of being expiring contracts but at least it would be protected.
Juan Toscano-Anderson doesn’t have to be in the trade but this franchise has shown the desire to save money at every turn this season. Adding him would mean LA is getting less salary in return, which is music to the front office’s ears.