L.A. Lakers Trade Rumors: Roy Hibbert Trade Completed With Indiana Pacers
L.A. Lakers trade rumors reveal the team has Roy Hibbert at center now. The Lakers’ trade to acquire Hibbert from the Indiana Pacers was made official on Thursday, July 9, despite some chatter that the Pacers could back out and work up a deal with the Dallas Mavericks. A report from the Los Angeles Times confirms that the Lakers will send a future second-round pick for the All-Star center, agreeing to take on his salary in what could appear to be a very one-sided deal.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, DeAndre Jordan backed out of a deal with the Mavericks to re-sign with the L.A. Clippers. This caused a bit of concern that the Pacers might then pull out of this deal, but that worry ended up having no merit. The Pacers needed to shed the salary too much to shift the agreement, getting $15.5 million in salary off the books. It will help the team get away from the luxury tax and also sign some more role players for the 2015-16 NBA season.
For the Lakers, this gets the team a good low post player who has been very durable through his seven seasons in the NBA. Roy Hibbert has career averages of 11.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per night. Hibbert is also extremely good on the offensive glass, averaging 2.5 offensive rebounds per game. When the L.A. Lakers trade rumors first popped up about the team showing interest, it definitely proved that the front office wants to make a deep run in the postseason again before Kobe Bryant decides to retire.
While Hibbert is a bit expensive for the upcoming NBA season, he will then become an unrestricted free agent again. If things go well and he complements D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle in a good way, he could likely get a nice offer to re-sign in Los Angeles. At just 28-years-old, Hibbert likely has a lot of basketball still in front of him. With how difficult it has been for teams to find big men this offseason, locking him up long-term might also be beneficial to the Lakers.
Moving forward, it’s difficult to gauge just how good the Lakers are going to be due to how many new pieces are in place. Outside of the most recent L.A. Lakers trade rumors, the team has also been linked to dealing away Nick Young. If they keep Young, the combination of him, the recently signed Lou Williams, and Kobe Bryant will at least score a lot of points, even if the team struggles on defense.
[Image Source: Andy Lyons/Getty Images]
