Breaking news out of New Orleans:
The Pelicans and Lakers have agreed on a trade. The Lakers will receive DeMarcus Cousins, Tony Allen, and Cheick Diallo from New Orleans in return for Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., and Josh Hart.
Statements from the Lakers and Pelicans will follow shortly.
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=y7jvqrsd
Somehow, it feels like both teams lost this trade.
Although I do like Nance.
I feel similarly. Right *now* I think both teams lost, but I expect these moves could both be wins after seeing additional moves.
NOP had an interesting strategy going for them with the two dominant big man frontcourt. They've now gone from two superstars to a lone superstar to build around and I just don't see the means there to build around AD without any good draft picks in their pocket and with Jrue, Asik, and Hill's contracts still on their books. I do like Nance a lot, but I don't think any of the players acquired will ever come close to being an all-star level player. I'd be interested in hearing more about their plan to build with this group... or maybe they have more trades in mind. I don't hate that they got rid of Boogie rather than hand him a terrible contract this offseason. Maybe I just would have hoped they attached a bad contract to him or got better young talent in return. In their quest to build around AD in the past 12 months, they turned Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, and first and second round picks into Clarkson, Nance, and Hart. They were dealt a rough hand though since they acquired a healthy Cousins but had to trade an injured one. My overall take: they had a crappy situation to begin with, made it slightly better, but still have work to do.
For LAL, the Boogie bird rights is irrelevant because they will be under the cap next season, so will have a cap hold on him until he signs. I think they are still just short of space for another max contract offering, but that could be achieved with some more moves. My big thing is... they could have just signed Boogie in FA next offseason. What advantage have they secured in his long term future there by making this trade? If none, then why lose Nance and Hart in a trade for him? If more moves are in their plans, then this trade could end up looking like a huge win I will say. Also, I'm not sure I love the fit with Lonzo and Boogie. Boogie wants to be fed the ball. Lonzo wants the ball to move around a lot. Lonzo wants to run, Boogie wants to walk. Lance was a great fit with Lonzo.