The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t had the season that they wanted, and so now, before the rebuild for 2014-15 can begin, the tear down of the 2013-14 roster begins. In the second trade of NBA Trade Deadline season, the Lakers have sent guard Steve Blake to the Golden State Warriors for Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks.
Blake, 33, has had a decent season for the disappointing Lakers, when he’s been healthy. He has scored 9.8 points, 7.6 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game in 27 games for the Lakers.
The Warriors will hope that Blake will give them another ball-handling guard, similar to what they had in Jarrett Jack last season. He can be a good rotational player in their backcourt.
Blake: “Real mixed emotions. The hardest thing really is my family. Now I’m going to have to spend four months probably away from them.”
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) February 20, 2014
The deal for the Lakers is purely financial, an attempt to cut costs on a lost season.
Bazemore will be a restricted free agent next season if L.A. chooses to extend him the qualifying offer of $1.1 million this summer, while Brooks is unrestricted, and only on the books for $1.2 million this season.
While most don’t think of the Lakers as a team that really needs to cut payroll, even in a non-playoff year, the big goal here is to get under the luxury tax threshold. Getting under the line would allow the Lakers to go back above the tax in future years without facing the harsh penalties that come with going over the line in successive years.
The Lakers are also rumored to be attempting to move Jordan Hill in an attempt to further cut costs.
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