The Los Angeles Lakers have been struggling to find consistency this season. Currently, the Lakers (11-14) are in 12th place in the tightly contested Western Conference. Even with Anthony Davis’ stellar play these last few weeks of November and LeBron James beginning to return to form after suffering a groin injury, the Lakers still find themselves on the outside looking in at a playoff or play-in spot.
So what could the answer be for this Lakers squad? Many fingers are surrounding the NBA point to Detroit Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Bogdanovic has been a huge part of this young Pistons team, as the eight-year veteran just signed a two-year extension with them. Acquiring Bogdanovic maybe a goal for the Lakers, but that doesn’t mean Detroit is willing to give him up.
According to Shams, the Pistons have “expressed — significant reluctance about moving Bogdanovic” to any of the dozen teams that have inquired about trading for the 33-year-old forward. It is also important to note that Bogdanovic is in the midst of having the best season of his career statistically. He’s averaging career highs in points per game (21.0), field goal percentage at (50.8), and 43.7 percent from 3-point range.
In addition to that, The Lakers were previously connected to potentially acquiring Bogdanovic before the 2022-2023 season started via trade with the Utah Jazz, but nothing went through.
Coming off a 38-point outing in a loss to the Lakers, where he shot 12 of 22 from the field (54.5 percent) and also buried six threes, you could really see why the Lakers have been pursuing him so favorably. However, Detroit does not seem to have any real urgency to move Bogdanovic and has actually expressed this to rival teams.
This will be an exciting development to see what takes place within the coming days as the NBA trade deadline is quickly approaching.
