The Los Angeles Lakers could still have a chance to land Brook Lopez despite the back-and-forth talks between the Brooklyn Nets and the Denver Nuggets for the two-time All-Star center, Basketball Insiders Jesse Blancarte suggested in his recent column.
The 26-year old Lopez has been on and off the trading block this season, and nearly traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder last January in exchange for Kendrick Perkins, Jeremy Lamb and Nick Collison last January.
Trying to stay in playoff contention, the Nets decided to stand pat with Lopez for now, although many analysts are still predicting the center to wear a different uniform after February 19 trade deadline.
So far, the Nuggets have toppled the Thunder as the front-runners for Lopez in what shapes to be a five-team race for the service of the big man. However, these little reason right now to rule out the New York Knicks, the Phoenix Suns or the Los Angeles Lakers as potential landing spot, especially if one of which can offer a more enticing package on the table.
The Lakers, in particular, are reportedly eager to swing for a deal in hope of landing an All-Star caliber talent and future cornerstone of the franchise. Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Lakers had a botched attempt to acquire Lopez few weeks ago by throwing in Jordan Hill and a first-round pick acquired from the Houston Rockets in the Jeremy Lin trade last offseason.
However, Biancarte still has faith in the Lakers' ability to pull off another blockbuster deal on the trading block by outbidding four other teams for the service of Lopez. According to the analyst, the acquisition of Lopez would provide the Lakers a solid foundation in its frontline with him and Julius Randle returning from a broken leg.
"The Lakers have missed out on some of its major free agent targets recently, so trading for a center like Lopez could be an appealing alternative to relying on offseason signings. This is especially true considering that at age 26, Lopez is still young enough to be a cornerstone piece for a rebuilding team. The Lakers already have Julius Randle at power forward, and adding Lopez would give them a nice big-man duo in the front court," Biancarte observed.
Lopez, who has a $17M player option for next season, isn't going to ruin the Lakers' cap space for the summer of 2016, when a certain Kevin Durant tests the free-agency waters. The 7-foot center out of Stanford is averaging 15 points and 6 rebounds per game while shooting over 50 percent from the field.
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