The Los Angeles Lakers are in quite a bit of trouble early in the season, as both LeBron James and Luka Doncic are sidelined with injuries. Will Reaves has done his best impression of both of them, posting performances of 51 and 41 points in back-to-back games, but the Lakers are just 2-2 thus far.
It seems pretty clear that Los Angeles can afford to make a move somewhere, and Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey has pitched a rather interesting trade target for the Purple and Gold: Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges.
“The old rumors of the Los Angeles Lakers’ interest in Jerami Grant never made much sense (because Rui Hachimura is probably better right now), but that is a position that could use a jolt. And L.A. may have enough movable contracts (along with a draft pick) to get a forward like Miles Bridges without necessarily giving up Hachimura,” Bailey wrote.
Bridges is in the second year of a rather team-friendly three-year, $75 million extension he signed with the Hornets during the summer of 2024 and is averaging 19.3 points, eight rebounds and 4.7 assists over 32.7 minutes per game through three contests thus far this season.
The 27-year-old has registered over 20 points per game in each of his past three campaigns, most recently posting 20.3 points, 7.5 boards and 3.9 assists across 31.7 minutes a night on 43.1/31.3/87.0 shooting splits last season.
Efficiency has never been the name of Bridges’ game, but he has the ability to score points in bunches, which is something the Lakers could certainly use right about now.
Not only that, but Bridges is an underrated playmaker, and while no one will ever confuse him for being an elite defender, he has the size and the athleticism to guard multiple positions.
The question is whether or not Charlotte would actually express any interest in trading Bridges at the moment given that they have looked fairly impressive thus far. Perhaps the Hornets would be open to moving the veteran in order to open up some room for some of their younger players, but Bridges is very valuable to them. And again, his contract is far from terrible.
Regardless, it would definitely make sense for Los Angeles to place a call to Charlotte to see if Bridges would be available.
Bridges owns career averages of 15.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on 46.1/33.9/82.7 shooting splits.
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