Lakers Trade Rumors: LA spoke to Rockets about the deal with PJ Tucker

We already knew the Lakers were interested in an exchange for Houston Rockets striker PJ Tucker, but after the disgruntled veteran got rid of Houston’s 14th straight loss on Thursday night, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski threw the bomb: The Lakers officially discussed with the Rockets about Tucker.

According to Wojnarowski, they are not the only team to have done this:

Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets are among the teams that have discussed possible deals with the Rockets in recent weeks, the sources said.

So far, the Rockets’ preference for a young and productive player in trade negotiations has been an obstacle for teams, which are not willing to give up that type of asset to a 35-year-old player in an expiring contract, they said. the sources.

As we saw earlier, the Lakers have young and productive caster players like Kyle Kuzma and Talen Horton-Tucker, but not the salary backing to make a deal involving them to work very easily in the middle of the season. However, if the Rockets are willing to be flexible about how “young” the productive rotation player is, the Lakers may have something that could work (via the ESPN trading machine):

At 27, Harrell is a more productive player than Tucker, 35. This is not really a debate. What is under debate is whether the Lakers would be better served to trade it for a player who could lower his regular season floor but increase his playoff ceiling.

For weeks, we heard about how the Lakers are interested in basically all the centers that may even theoretically become available on a purchase. The problem with these rumors is that it is unlikely that any of these guys will be good enough to play Marc Marcol or Harrell, and it is certainly not a better option than Davis in the five, where he was more productive during the playoffs and will certainly play more when the postseason arrives.

With Tucker, the Lakers would have a supercharged version of the kind of small ball that Markieff Morris served them in last season’s bubble, getting a stronger defender and a better career shooter (Morris did a little more this season, but Tucker is better off throughout their career), which would have the potential to make the Lakers’ best lineups even better and give them space to sign up for the more traditional size reserve center that they clearly want in the procurement market. For the Rockets, that deal would give them a younger, better player in a vacuum, which they could try to reheat this summer, instead of losing Tucker for nothing.

Again, Harrell is the best individual basketball player here, but in the playoffs, his usefulness may be more limited, his defensive flaws more easily exposed with game planning directed by other teams. He’s also a guy who now seems unlikely to close many – if any – games for the Lakers. By swapping him for Tucker, they could balance their squad the way they seem to want for the postseason, while getting a player who might be able to play more high-leverage minutes for them once they’re there, and they certainly would have more confidence from Frank Vogel defensively than Harrell received.

The negotiation deadline is March 25, and it certainly won’t be the last time we hear about Tucker. And who knows, if he and the Rockets reach a total stalemate, maybe they’ll buy it and let the Lakers take it for free, and they can stay with him and Harrell. Or maybe he really is washed, and he will not be better off in a winning situation. This is always possible. But this is the kind of bet that might be worth making, and at the very least, Tucker will be a name to watch over the next two weeks, while the Lakers figure out what adjustments they want to make on their list.

For more Lakers speak, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed at iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.