Lakers Engaged in Trade Talks for Magic Guard Terrence Ross

The Lakers have reportedly been in discussions to acquire the veteran guard from Orlando.

Lakers general manger Rob Pelinka’s dream of acquiring an impact player before the trade deadline is still very much that. A dream. It might be time to wake up and accept that a second-tier veteran, like the Celtics Josh Richardson or Orlando guard Terrence Ross is the best he can do.

NBA reporter Marc Stein reported on Tuesday that the Lakers have been in trade talks with the Magic regarding Terrence Ross.

Ross is an inefficient, 31-year-old score first guard who isn’t going to turn the Lakers dreadful season around.

Pelinka’s dream started with Pistons forward Jerami Grant. Then, Kings guard Buddy Hield. Ya know, the player they could have acquired this summer instead of Russell Westbrook. The new trade soup du jour over the weekend was Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr.

The fact is that Talen Horton-Tucker, an injured Kendrick Nunn, and the Lakers 2027 first-round pick doesn’t move the needle in the current trade market.

Now, reality has set in. Ross might be one of the Lakers only options to shake things up.

Does Terrence Ross Help the Lakers?

After this season, Ross has one year remaining on his contract and will be owed a base salary of $10.5M with the ability to earn an additional $1M in incentives in 2022-2023. What are the incentives? This writer is glad you asked.

According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, the incentives, characterized by Robbins as “unlikely”, are based on Ross achieving a certain individual defensive rating. That’s right, Ross is such a porous defender that Orlando dangled a million dollars in front him to inspire him to try and play some real defense.

He currently has the second worst defensive rating on the Magic (113.7).

This season, Ross is shooting 40.7% from the field and only 31.3% from three. On a team desperate for shooting, defense, and energy, Ross will likely provide little of three.

The Magic’s problems run much deeper than Ross, but the sixth-man is not exactly emblematic of winning basketball culture. Which is yet another thing the Lakers need more of at this point.

During his tenure in Orlando, the Magic own a .363 winning percentage.

He’s simply too small of a wave to turn the tide for the Lakers.

Acquiring Ross would be Pelinka making a transaction for the sake of making a transaction.