The Los Angeles Lakers are interested in trading for Trevor Ariza, an upgrade on the wing for a team now looking at the level playing field in the West (outside Golden State), realizing they have LeBron James, and thinking there could be a deep playoff run in their future.
However, to make a trade for Ariza work the Lakers want to send out Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and his $12 million salary. That’s not happening in Phoenix. For one, the Suns don’t want KCP, he doesn’t fit with their rebuilding plans, and the Lakers are not throwing in a pick/young player as a sweetener. More than that, KCP shares an agent with LeBron and Anthony Davis and the Lakers are not about to do anything that pisses off Rich Paul, like banishing a player to struggling Phoenix. The two sides needed a third team.
Enter the Houston Rockets, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.In desperate search for an upgrade at the wing, the Rockets are targeting Caldwell-Pope, league sources said. The Lakers have pursued Suns forward Trevor Ariza, along with several other contenders, according to league sources...
There is no deal imminent, league sources said, and Caldwell-Pope can remain a Laker. He becomes trade-eligible on Dec. 15.
In this scenario, the teams involved would need to search for a fourth team to acquire Houston’s contract of Brandon Knight along with draft picks, sources said. Knight is under contract for $14.6 million this season and $15.6 million in 2019-20.
A fourth team? That makes this trade highly unlikely, four-team trades are very rare (in any sport) because making four teams happy with a deal is exponentially harder than just two, or even three. In this case, it might take a first-round pick to get some team to take on Brandon Knight’s contract from Houston, and you can be sure the Lakers and Rockets don’t want to surrender those picks just to get Ariza or KCP.
Neither Ariza nor Caldwell-Pope can be traded until Saturday.
This sounds like either an agent pumping up his client — how much interest is there in Caldwell-Pope? — or a team trying to start a bidding war or get other teams involved.
That said, with players who signed as a free agent this summer available for trade on Saturday (Dec. 15), the market is starting to really heat up and the rumors are flying.
