Lakers News: L.A. Could Target This Ex-Laker In Kendrick Nunn Trade

A 2020 champ could be had for cheap.

Let's face facts: your Los Angeles Lakers could be in trouble short-term. The team is without All-NBA big man Anthony Davis, who has thrived while playing full-time center for the second straight season but also has (predictably) gotten injured while banging against one of the NBA's biggest bodies, in this case that of 6'11", 284-pound two-time MVP Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

Long-term (i.e. later this season), assuming AD does return by mid-January or so, his Lakers will need some help, especially with shotmaking on the wing.

Why not bring back a beloved 2020 champ, former starting shooting guard Danny Green? When healthy, Green has been an incredibly useful 3-and-D contributor on several title clubs. A deal that could work, from L.A.'s perspective, would be flipping the contracts of useless point guard Kendrick Nunn, plus fringe-rotation minimum-salaried reserves Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones, to trade for Green's $10 million deal. To incentivize Memphis to make the deal, a second-round Lakers pick would surely be enough, no?

The 35-year-old Green, who tore his left LCL and ACL during the 2022 playoffs while with the Philadelphia 76ers, is apparently on track to return to the hardwood before the All-Star break, a pretty early comeback for a player of his advanced years (I can say that, I'm his age) with that particular injury. Last year with the Sixers, he shot 38% on 4.4 long range attempts a night while remaining a surprisingly solid defender.

The three-time champ provided an update to his ESPN colleagues during his Memphis Grizzlies' 125-100 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday (they're in the midst of a Christmas Day rematch right now), per Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

"The knee is going smoothly," Green said. "We're in a good pace and hopefully you'll see me before the break. That's the target right now."

"I'm liking what I'm seeing on the court," Memphis head coach Taylor Jenkins reflected of Green's recovery. "He's getting challenged every single day medically, physically, basketball-wise... So hopefully, sooner rather than later, he's back. Timelines will be timelines, but he's progressing really well."