The Los Angeles Lakers are at the point in the season where it is blatantly obvious they will not make the playoffs as they are 9-34. Now is the time for the Lakers to start developing their young talent and Byron Scott has said he will lean on his young players more, but the organization can help him by trading some of the veterans. The Lakers have some veterans that will be hard to trade before the deadline but one guy who they will likely be able to deal is forward Brandon Bass, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
Bass spent the last four seasons of his career with the Celtics but signed with the Lakers this past offseason on a two year $6 million deal. The 30-year-old forward has been coming off the bench this season and has had a minor role as he is averaging 6.1 points and 4 rebounds in just 17.5 minutes per game. Bass was signed to be more of a mentor to Julius Randle rather than for his play on the court but Metta World Peace has reportedly taken on the mentor role so the Lakers are willing to move on from Bass.
The expectation is that Bass will be traded at some point within the next month as his salary is very reasonable and he has playoff experience. There are some issues in the way of the Lakers getting a deal done for Bass though including the fact that he has been nursing a foot injury. Bass has been in and out of the lineup because of the ankle issue but he was able to play in the Lakers most recent game and while the foot injury may cause teams to hesitate a little bit it likely won't be a deal breaker.
Another potential issue is the fact that Bass is signed through next season as well as this one. Teams like to have as much flexibility going forward as possible and, if they can help it, they like to avoid adding salary for future years in trades unless the player is part of the future plans. Bass' salary is guaranteed for next season but the good news for the Lakers is it is just $3 million so that too should not scare teams away.
Bass doesn't do anything particularly great but he is a solid rotational guy who can provide a nice mid-range jump shot and rebounds the ball pretty well. Bass doesn't jump out at you on the court but he also doesn't do anything poorly and the fact that he is having his best season ever in terms of PER (18.3) will likely help increase his trade market. It seems like Bass is the most likely Laker to be traded and right now it is expected that he will be dealt. Either way though, expect the Lakers to be pretty active over the next month.
