NBA Rumors: LA Lakers Shouldn’t Trade Kyle Kuzma For Andre Iguodala, Per ‘Bleacher Report’

From the time he was dumped by the Golden State Warriors to free up salary-cap space to sign D’Angelo Russell, rumors have been continuously swirling around veteran small forward Andre Iguodala and his future with the Memphis Grizzlies. Though the Grizzlies are currently in the playoff race, Iguodala still hasn’t played a single game in the 2019-20 NBA season and is highly expected to be moved before next month’s trade deadline. Since the last offseason, one of the teams frequently mentioned as the favorite landing spot for the former Finals MVP has been the Los Angeles Lakers.

Preston Ellis of Bleacher Report agreed with the idea that Iguodala would be a perfect addition to the Lakers. Aside from having plenty of championship experience, he could give the Lakers a “half-court secondary playmaker,” a reliable threat from beyond the arc, and someone who could be tasked to guard the opposing team’s best player. However, despite the things that he can offer the team this season, Ellis believes that the only time that the Lakers should go after the 35-year-old is if the Grizzlies buy out his contract and not via trade.

As Ellis noted, trading for Iguodala won’t be worth it for the Lakers, especially knowing that they might have to part ways with Kyle Kuzma and include a few of their key role players for salary-matching purposes, in order to convince Memphis to make a deal.

“The problem with trading for Iguodala is it would almost certainly mean moving on from Kyle Kuzma (unless LeBron [James] calls in another favor). The Lakers have little to no assets to send, and the Grizzlies have shown their willingness to wait for a strong offer. Plus, there’s the issue of matching salaries. They’d need to convince Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to waive his right to veto the trade and then pay his 15 percent kicker as compensation. They’d then still need to add one of Quinn Cook or Alex Caruso to make the math work.”

The potential acquisition of Iguodala would most likely increase the Lakers’ chance of dominating the deep Western Conference and winning a championship this year, but giving up a young and talented player like Kuzma and some of their reliable contributors off the bench for the aging veteran might not make much sense. If they are planning to use Kuzma as the main trade chip to boost their roster, Ellis suggested that the Lakers are better off targeting Davis Bertans of the Washington Wizards.