Lakers may want Buddy Hield or Eric Gordon along with Kyrie Irving
Lately, one rumor that has circulated about the Los Angeles Lakers is that if they strike out on Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, they will look to acquire either Buddy Hield or Eric Gordon as a backup plan.
Their negotiations with Brooklyn regarding Irving have seemingly gone nowhere after heating up in the opening days of July.
But according to Lakers beat writer Dave McMenamin, the team has something bigger in mind than getting Hield or Gordon merely as a consolation prize of sorts.
“They have interest in Eric Gordon and Buddy Hield, perhaps in addition to Kyrie and the piece that would have to be moved in order to get that done would be Talen Horton-Tucker,” McMenamin said while on “The Lowe Post,” a podast hosted by Zach Lowe of ESPN. “But, it could also end up being the Plan B if they can’t get this Kyrie situation to come to bear…”
Lakers fans have fixated on Hield ever since the team turned down an opportunity to trade for him last summer to land Russell Westbrook instead.
The 6-foot-4 guard would significantly improve L.A.’s 3-point shooting, an area that needs lots of improvement.
However, Hield’s numbers went down this past season. He shot 36.6 percent from 3-point range, compared to 39.1 percent the year prior.
Gordon has always been an instant offense man throughout his 14 NBA seasons, but his efficiency has fluctuated from season to season.
While he shot an outstanding 41.2 percent from downtown in the 2021-22 campaign, he was at just 32.9 percent the year before.
Why does Kevin Durant want to leave Brooklyn?
Although Kevin Durant asked to be traded when free agency began a few weeks ago, some have questioned whether he really wants out of Brooklyn or if he is merely trying to gain some leverage.
McMenamin talked about Durant’s trade request on “The Lowe Post” and the two-time NBA Finals MVP’s true intentions.
Dave McMenamin on the Kyrie situation #Lakers pic.twitter.com/fj1SdvVOQI
— Ralph Mason (@Ralph_MasonJr) July 18, 2022
“The Lakers believe that the Nets will not do anything with Kyrie until they’ve settled things with Kevin Durant. Now, there’s a school of thought speaking to people around the league that they think that the Durant trade request wasn’t actually about him getting out of Brooklyn, it was about getting Kyrie out of Brooklyn.”
It is generally believed that if Irving will end up getting traded to the Lakers, it won’t happen until Durant’s trade request has been granted and he has been shipped off to another team.
