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Update: Well, it turns out Woj was wrong on this one. The Lakers are instead going to pursue a deal for Russell Westbrook and are using Kuzma and Harrell to do so. That obviously complicates any trade for Hield.
The Lakers are near a deal to acquire Washington's Russell Westbrook for Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a 2021 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 29, 2021
The Los Angeles Lakers are close to acquiring Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield for Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Harrell opting into his contract allowed the team to move forward with the deal.
The Lakers desperately needed to add shooting around LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but had limited cap space and only the No. 22 draft pick to make big moves. Hield is a great perimeter threat for LA; he hit on 39.1 percent of his triples last season and is a career 40.6 percent shooter.
Kuzma and Harrell bring some depth to Sacramento’s young core, which the Kings will add to with the No. 9 pick in the draft. Sacramento is looking to break a long playoff drought and can benefit from two players with recent postseason experience.
Hield is under contract for two more seasons, but carries a declining cap hit with each year. This will assist the Lakers in adding talent around James and Davis, but Hield provides marksmanship the team was clearly lacking last year.