The Los Angeles Lakers want to shed contracts. The team's main goal before the trade deadline is start getting some salary cap relief in preparation for a solid offseason run at free agents. Right now, Los Angeles is bad. The Lakers are at the bottom of the Western Conference, 24 games back from the Oklahoma City Thunder. They lost three games in a row heading into the All-Star break and while they may not make any blockbuster moves before the trade deadline, they could send a few players packing.
Sam Amick of USA Today is reporting that Steve Blake could be on his way out in the next 48 hours. Blake is set to earn $4 million this season and then become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. He is easy trade bait even though he has been hampered by injuries most of the season. The Lakers are shopping him around in hopes that a team in need of a cheap guard makes an offer.
According to Amick, the Golden State Warriors could be very interested. The team has been attempting to acquire some depth for their bench as they prepare for a solid postseason run. The team has inquired about everyone from Evan Turner to Andre Miller and Kyle Lowry. However, everyone has been too expensive for the Warriors' liking. Blake on the other hand could be a solid fit.
A trade with the Warriors makes sense simply because the team has a player exception they can use. This would mean the Lakers do not have to receive a player in return. That would help relieve their salary cap issues and would bring the Lakers closer to getting under the luxury tax line. Los Angeles has no intentions of re-signing Blake as is, so trading him now would be ideal.
Blake is not the only one on the possible outs. Steve Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports that Jordan Hill could also be gone after the Brooklyn Nets expressed interest. The Nets are in the same position as the Warriors in which they have a player exception and the Lakers would not have to receive anything in the deal. Again, with the main purpose of trades to be getting rid of contracts, these two deals make the most sense.
