{"id":63288,"date":"2024-02-06T07:56:16","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T12:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=63288"},"modified":"2024-02-06T07:56:16","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T12:56:16","slug":"nba-rumors-lakers-interested-in-veteran-pistons-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/06\/nba-rumors-lakers-interested-in-veteran-pistons-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Rumors: Lakers Interested in Veteran Pistons Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the news that <\/span>Jarred Vanderbilt<\/span><\/a> will <\/span>miss 3-4 weeks with a right foot sprain<\/span><\/a>, the Lakers have added forward help to their list of targets heading into the trade deadline. One name who could help their defense and floor-spacing? <\/span>Danilo Gallinari<\/span><\/a> of the Detroit Pistons.<\/span><\/p>\n

NBA Rumors: Lakers Interested in Veteran Pistons Forward<\/b><\/h2>\n

Background<\/b><\/h3>\n

Gallinari is in his 13th season and has bounced around after <\/span>tearing his ACL last summer<\/span><\/a>. He began the year with the Wizards, averaging seven points per game on .435\/.313\/.853 splits. He was then <\/span>traded to the Pistons on Jan. 14<\/span><\/a>\u2014along with <\/span>Mike Muscala<\/span><\/a>\u2014for <\/span>Marvin Bagley III<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Isaiah Livers<\/span><\/a> and draft compensation.<\/span><\/p>\n

In five games with Detroit, Gallinari has averaged ten points, two rebounds and two assists per game on standout efficiency. It\u2019s a small sample size, but he has shot 52% from the field, 58% from three and 87% from the free-throw line. He dropped <\/span>20 points against the Cavs<\/span><\/a> last Wednesday, going a perfect 4\/4 from deep and 6\/8 from the field. Gallo has returned to form following ACL surgery, leading to interest from several teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Gallinari Could Help the Lakers<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Lakers recently \u201cchecked in\u201d’ on Gallinari\u2019s status<\/span><\/a> with the Pistons, according to Mike Scotto of HoopsHype. At 6-foot-10 with a remarkable shooting ability, Gallinari has tools that the Lakers will need, especially with a depleted frontcourt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the Lakers\u2019 recent impressive stretch\u2014which included them shooting 53% from three against Boston last week\u2014they\u2019re still 15th in three-point percentage (36.7%) and 28th in threes made per game (11.3). Their forwards, in particular, are currently 14th in perimeter percentage (36.4%) but fifth in overall field goal percentage (50.6%). Gallo\u2019s scoring would help them tremendously, in addition to his versatility, as he\u2019s able to go toe-to-toe against opposing fours and fives. Gallinari spent most of his Wizards minutes at center (88%), but he reverted back to the four with Detroit (55% of minutes played at PF).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lakers would be able to play Gallinari as a stretch four or five in minutes without <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or <\/span>Anthony Davis<\/span><\/a>. His offense would be a natural fit for a team in need of frontcourt scorers, and he\u2019d impact the defense with his size and strength. Aside from his work on the court\u2014which includes six years of playoff experience\u2014Gallo could also mentor LA\u2019s young players, just as he did <\/span>with the Wizards’ young core<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trading for Gallinari would be a relatively easy task. He\u2019s on an expiring $6.8 million salary, and eight Lakers are making between $1-5 million this season. This leads to several possible combinations if a deal materializes, including one or more <\/span>second-round picks<\/span><\/a> the Lakers have at their disposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Last Word on Danilo Gallinari<\/b><\/h3>\n

While the Lakers seem to be interested in every player, Gallinari is a legitimate option that fills LA\u2019s needs of perimeter shooting and overall versatility. Even though he\u2019s 35 years old, he brings a wealth of experience and skill to the table. Consider him a target for a smaller trade, even as the Lakers aim high ahead of the deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following the news that Jarred Vanderbilt will miss 3-4 weeks with a right foot sprain, the Lakers have added forward help to their list of targets heading into the trade deadline. One name who could help their defense and floor-spacing? Danilo Gallinari of the Detroit Pistons. NBA Rumors: Lakers Interested in Veteran Pistons Forward Background […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":63292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,10,26,62,4721,18],"tags":[240,1066,2471,38,1418,548,4774],"class_list":["post-63288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-pistons","category-lakers","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","category-wizards","tag-anthony-davis","tag-danilo-gallinari","tag-isaiah-livers","tag-lebron-james","tag-marvin-bagley-iii","tag-mike-muscala","tag-rumors"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}