Adding Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vučević could address the Los Angeles Lakers‘ rebounding issue and lack of outside shooting.
The Lakers’ 40.6 rebounding average is in the bottom four of the league entering November 13 games. Their 11.6 3-pointers made per game ranked 25th despite rookie coach JJ Redick’s declaration before the season that they will shoot more 3s this season.
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale proposed a trade that could help the Lakers land the stretch big man to pair with Anthony Davis in their frontcourt.
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Nikola Vučević
Chicago Bulls Receive: D’Angelo Russell, Christian Wood, 2025 second-round pick (via Clippers)
“Los Angeles can use him both next to and independent of Anthony Davis. There will be a defensive trade-off whenever he’s on the court, but it gets easier to shelter him once both AD and Jarred Vanderbilt are healthy.
Adding his $20 million salary to the 2025-26 balance sheet shouldn’t faze the Lakers when they’re not including a first-round pick,” Favale wrote.
With Vucevic generating zero trade market, along with disgruntled Zach LaVine, per the Chicago Sun-Times, the Lakers should pounce on the opportunity to add size and shooting to their frontcourt without giving up their two future first-round picks.
For the Bulls, shedding away Vucevic’s $41.5 million guaranteed money over the next two years while betting on the Clippers to get worse in the post-Paul George era to get an early second-round pick in the talented NBA Draft next year might motivate them to pull the trigger on this hypothetical Lakers package.
Offseason Training Paying off for Nikola Vučević
Vučević is averaging 20.8 points and 10.1 rebounds, which is expected from the Montenegrin center. However, what is surprising is his efficiency from the outside through the first 11 games of the season.
Vučević is shooting 58.6% from the field and 46.8% from the 3-point line, which is both career highs if he can sustain it.
Clearly, his offseason training focusing on his 3-point shot mechanics is paying off.
“I worked on it a lot over the summer, trying to see if there was something as far as my mechanics that I didn’t do well, or what was going on from that standpoint,” Vučević told Substack’s NBA insider Marc Stein. “I think there are some things that I could have done better, so I worked on it, a lot of reps as always. I’m sure at some point last year I was also overthinking shots and so, shots that I would normally make, when you start thinking too much, you start missing those as well.”
The four-time NBA All-Star center has been linked to the Lakers for a while now.
In September, Bleacher Report’s salary cap expert Eric Pincus wrote, “The Lakers could have an interest in” the Bulls big man.
Anthony Davis Cleared to Play After Eye Injury
The Lakers dodged a bullet as Davis was cleared to play after suffering a left eye injury in their 123-103 win over the Toronto Raptors.
Davis exited the game with 5:16 left in the third quarter after Jakob Poeltl’s off hand hit him in the face while he went for a block against the Toronto center’s dunk.
“A couple of scratches in my eye,” Davis said, per ESPN, describing his injury. “But as far as the medical term and everything all that, I’m not 100% sure. But I am cleared to play.”
It was a welcome development for the Lakers after Wood, the only center in their roster who can stretch the floor, suffered a setback in his knee injury recovery.
“We’re going to scale him back,” Redick said of Wood, per ESPN. “We’ll have an update in about four weeks.”
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