With the NBA trade deadline over, teams are still trying to find ways to improve their team. Following the deadline, there is always a few players that may get waived throughout the process, and teams line up to sign them to their team. This year, one of those players was Lonzo Ball, who was traded to the Utah Jazz and bought out by them.
When the news first broke, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints introduced two teams that were interested in his services.
“As the NBA buyout market takes shape, league sources told ClutchPoints that two teams have emerged as serious suitors for Lonzo Ball: Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets. Both teams are looking to add an experienced ball-handler in their backcourt,” Siegel wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The Warriors had seemed to be the frontrunner for Ball, but it looks like they may pull out of the race, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
“There were some fresh rumbles over the weekend that the Warriors might opt not to sign Lonzo Ball in the end after converting Pat Spencer from a two-way deal to a standard NBA contract,” Stein wrote. “Haynes reported that multiple teams are reviewing Ball's medicals to determine whether to sign the veteran guard, who became a free agent after Cleveland dealt him to Utah to lower its luxury tax bill. And our Jake Fischer reported that Denver is one of those teams after the Jazz waived Ball.”
The Nuggets may now have a clear path to sign Ball, and he would be a key piece to their guard depth for the remainder of the season. At the same time, his injury history is something to take a deep look into, as he hasn't been the healthiest in his career. This season has fared well for him in that department, and hopefully, it can stay like that.
