NBA Rumors: LA Lakers Could Trade Kentavious Caldwell-Pope And Talen Horton-Tucker For J.J. Redick

LeBron James and Anthony Davis have already started making their presence felt, helping the Los Angeles Lakers win three of their first four games in the 2019-20 NBA season. With Kyle Kuzma expected to return from injury, the Lakers are expected to be a more dangerous team on the offensive end of the floor. However, despite having a very talented roster, it is still not hard to imagine the Lakers seeking an upgrade before the February trade deadline.

According to Jason Reed of Fansided’s L.A. Sports Hub, one of the NBA veterans that the Lakers could target on the trade market is J.J. Redick of the New Orleans Pelicans.

“Rob Pelinka and David Griffin might be on the phone some more as J.J. Redick is the perfect veteran trade piece for the Lakers to consider, even though he does not really fit the wing defender or ball-handler mold. What Redick does bring is sharpshooting that will be lethal around James and Davis and add another scoring output for the team as well as playoff experience. Redick has so much playoff experience due to the fact that he has never missed the playoffs in his entire career. There is a risk that he misses the playoffs in New Orleans but can be saved by being traded to the Lakers.”

The trade could make a lot of sense for both Redick and the Lakers. Redick may not have shown any sign that he’s not happy in New Orleans, but with the Pelicans’ roster mostly consisting of young players, he could be on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time in his NBA career. That could be prevented if he would be traded to the Lakers, one of the top favorite teams to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals this season.

J.J. Redick may not be able to solve the Lakers’ problems in the wing and in terms of ball-handling, but he would still be a great addition to their roster. Redick would give the Lakers a sharpshooting veteran who is very familiar with playoff pressure. With the years he spent playing with the likes of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Joel Embiid, and Jimmy Butler, Redick has learned how to efficiently play in an off-the-ball capacity, making him a perfect fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-3uqI_YWiE

To acquire Redick, Reed suggested that the Lakers could offer a trade package including Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Talen Horton-Tucker to the Pelicans. The potential deal would also be beneficial for the Pelicans as it would enable them to add another young and promising talent on their roster in Horten-Tucker, the No. 46 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. However, for the deal to push through, the Lakers and the Pelicans would be needing the cooperation of Redick and Caldwell-Pope since their current contracts give them the power to veto any trade.