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The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t the only team that knows how to traffic, or maybe they are. On Monday, the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings agreed to a signing and trade involving Bogdan Bogdanovic. However, trade quickly collapsed because Bogdanovic would never have agreed to the terms of the deal. On Friday, the trade was officially declared dead.
Now Bogdanovic and his camp are expected to work with the Kings on another signing and trade scenario, and according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Eric Nehm, the Lakers have an interest:
As Athletic and The New York Times reported Thursday, the league is indeed looking into the matter. Serious pressure is being exerted on all parties, and sources have said Athletic Friday noon that prospect Bogdanovic-to-the-Bucks is dead. Bogdanovic and his representation are expected to take meetings when permitted this afternoon / evening, with Atlanta and the Lakers known to be among the contenders.
This isn’t the first time the Lakers have shown interest in Bogdanovic. In January, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor reported that the Kings had offered Nemanja Bjelica and a pick for Kyle Kuzma. According to the report, the Lakers denied the offer and countered by asking for Bogdanovic. The kings said no back then, but it was under a different regime and under completely different circumstances. This time could be different.
It’s no secret that Kuzma had his best years under Luke Walton, who is currently the Kings head coach. It’s no secret that they respect each other either. Kuzma was one of the first players to thank Walton when the Lakers parted ways with him last year.
Additionally, we have an idea of what kind of package the Kings would take for Bogdanovic. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks were planning to send Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova and DJ Wilson to the Kings in exchange for Bogdanovic. Is a pack of Kuzma and JaVale McGee much worse than this? And if so, could they expand it to a retailer and business that includes Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Nemanja Bjelica? It’s possible.
Anyway, it is clear that the Lakers approach the offseason with a “lack of complacency” to steal a sentence from Rob Pelinka. They see the moves of the rest of the NBA and they want to improve too. Landing Bogdanovic would definitely be one way to do it.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast on itunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.
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