The fast-approaching trade deadline has a way of making small things feel much bigger.
This week, the Lakers were linked to De’Andre Hunter and the rumors rapidly picked up of their interest in the wing.
There were rumors of a framework of a deal surrounding some combination of Rui Hachimura, Dalton Knecht and Hunter, but that was the extent of the rumors.
On Saturday, longtime NBA beat writer Marc Stein poured some cold water on the Lakers’ interest in Hunter in his Substack article.
League sources say that the Lakers’ interest in Hunter, meanwhile, has been repeatedly overstated this week. The teams have certainly talked during this transaction cycle, but the purple and gold are reticent to jeopardize their upcoming financial flexibility in the offseason by absorbing Hunter’s $24.9 million salary for next season.
The Cavaliers are known to be looking to shed Hunter’s contract to reduce their luxury tax bill and in a nod to the emergence of Jaylon Tyson.
The question is whether this is how the Lakers really feel or if they are trying to negotiate in public as well. Saying they aren’t that interested in Hunter drives the asking price down. The Lakers can offer cap relief in a way few other teams can at the deadline and may be trying to leverage it.
There’s also the (probably likelier) scenario in which this is just how the Lakers actually feel. The front office has largely been wanting to protect the cap space, though the most recent report in that regard this summer indicated they had switched their mindset.
However, does it make sense to sacrifice that cap space for Hunter? It feels like the team could be willing to do that for the right player, but it’s hard to see Hunter as that type of player.
Having said that, with Hunter being an expiring contract next season, it wouldn’t be too difficult to move him to further clear space.
All of this is a lot of posturing from both sides with the truth generally falling somewhere in the middle. Hunter is a pretty flawed player whom the Lakers would be buying low on, but he also fills a type of need for the Lakers. Does that make him worth trading for?
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