Thomas Bryant, one of the unexpected bright lights of the season, is reportedly being traded by the Lakers to the Nuggets for Davon Reed and three second round selections in an unexpected move before the trade deadline.
Bryant was one of the team’s top surprises during Anthony Davis’ injury, scoring 12.1 points per game this year.
Lakers will get Denver’s seconds in 2025, 2026 and 2029, sources tell ESPN. Moving Bryant opens minutes for Jarred Vanderbilt and Wenyen Gabriel in turn. https://t.co/y7ghFZKhIA
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023
Shooting guard Davon Reed is in his fourth season in the league and has played for four different teams. He played in just 114 games in his career and 35 for Denver this season, making him a rarely used player. Reed has a career 3-point percentage of 38.4%, but only shoots 36.4% this year.
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In his return to his pre-injury form and at times as a major boost for the Lakers, Bryant has shone brightly this season. He averages the second most rebounds of his career and has the best true shooting percentage. He shoots 44% from outside the arc this season with just over one attempt per game.
Even though his second stay in Los Angeles was short, Bryant’s presence in the iconic photo of LeBron James breaking the scoring record will live on in Lakers and NBA history. Frankly, I applaud him.
His defensive shortcomings were pretty obvious in the end, and they cost the Lakers at times. Likewise, the Lakers probably wouldn’t be able to pay Bryant what he would receive in the open market as he had to pay a significant salary this off-season.
The team decided to capitalize on Bryant’s performance so far this season and please him by moving him into a better situation for themselves while topping up their change after making a number of trades so far this season had used.
Bryant had played out his contract with the Lakers, and with the team going bankrupt via trades, it was best to lead him to a new home rather than lose him for nothing this summer. https://t.co/bT4JTY0G7L
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) February 9, 2023
Bryant had become unhappy with his diminished PT since AD returned and asked LAL to look for a better situation. He had also forfeited his contract and LA has only mid range to re-sign him – so they opted to give his minutes to Wenyen Gabriel and complement the picks they gave up for Rui. https://t.co/OLaVrB9AkN
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 9, 2023
This gives Wenyen Gabriel more playing time, according to Woike and Wojnarowski. Gabriel has been left out of rotation since Anthony Davis returned. Gabriel has played in just three of the team’s last seven games, and in one of those games he only played a few minutes.
Bryant became more expendable as a result of taking over Jarred Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt can play the four or the five, and his ability to grab rebounds was on par with Bryant’s.
Having many players to replace Bryant on the roster and the ability to add more, the Lakers effectively capitalized on his successful season. At the end of the day, the Lakers moved Bryant for three picks in the second round after signing him to a small contract, which is an excellent thing.
And now that the trade deadline has passed, the Lakers have additional draft picks to pursue trading partners and a roster slot they can use to source players – perhaps another backup center – in the buyout market.
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