Lakers front office staffers have reportedly been working the phones to improve their team ahead of the trade deadline, and so far their most talked about potential trade targets have been Dejounte Murray and Zach LaVine.
But now, an NBA insider has urged the team to look in a completely different direction.
“If I’m Rob Pelinka, though, there’s not a store with 30 guys available. But it’s not just LaVine or Dejounte Murray,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective this week.
“I’m calling Charlotte, I’m inquiring about Terry Rozier, I’m at least checking to see if he might be available at a significantly lower cost. Because I think that that’s a guy who would give you a lot of the stuff you need and wouldn’t cost you as much. It’s not the big splash, although he is averaging 23 points per game. Just nobody knows that because the Hornets are so [bad].”
McMahon is right that Rozier is very much flying under the radar in Charlotte. That’s despite his averages of 24 points and 6.8 assists per game both being career-highs.
Rozier would certainly add some much-needed shooting to the Lakers. His 37 per cent three-point shooting this season is higher than all but three Lakers players, and that’s despite attempting 7.8 threes per game.
Rozier is also averaging 8.5 points per game in the fourth quarter, the second-most in the NBA behind Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Hornets guard is in the second year of a four-year, $96 million contract. He is owed $23.2 million this season, which would make him cheaper than LaVine (40.1 million) but more expensive than Murray (18.2 million).
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