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The Los Angeles Lakers always hold high expectations as a franchise. Of course, those expectations are amplified with LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the team. Since winning their last championship in 2020, the Lakers have endured quite a few lackluster seasons, which ultimately led to Darvin Ham being replaced by JJ Redick this offseason and the outside noise calling for Rob Pelinka and this front office to make trades during the offseason. Ultimately, Los Angeles didn't pull the trigger on any trades, but that doesn't mean they didn't try to make any moves.
During the offseason, the trade market around the NBA is volatile. Countless calls are always made, regardless if there is serious momentum towards a trade being made. The Lakers expressed interest in several possible trade targets during the summer, league sources confirmed to ClutchPoints. One of the players they expressed interest in was Nick Richards from the Charlotte Hornets.
Richards, a 2020 second-round pick, has spent his entire career with the Hornets. While he did not hold much of a role during his first two years in the league, Richards has since become a very intriguing role player at the center position because of his rebounding and toughness on the interior. Due to Charlotte dealing with various frontcourt injuries through the years, Richards has stepped up into a much larger role for them, as he played in a career high 67 games and made 51 starts during the 2023-24 season.
In March 2023, the Hornets extended the young big man with a three-year, $15 million extension, a contract many teams around the league have raised an eyebrow to because of his production.
Hornets' hesitance with Nick Richards trade talks
The Hornets have made it known to those around the league that they are willing to hear all offers that come their way and will help facilitate trades. That is why the only way the New York Knicks were able to recently acquire Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster trade was by having Charlotte be a third team to help facilitate contracts and salaries. At the same time, the Hornets are not just making trades to make trades. Strategy is involved, and Charlotte is setting themselves up for long-term potential.
LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, sources said, are the only two players the organization has no desire to see leave anytime soon. With this said, the Hornets are also operating with the mindset that immediate growth can present itself following an underwhelming 2023-24 campaign in which they went 21-61. Charles Lee, who just won a championship with the Boston Celtics, is now the head coach of a young, hungry team that many are overlooking in the Eastern Conference.
With Lee taking the team in a new direction, one that is filled with energy and excitement, Charlotte has been hesitant to make any drastic changes to the roster this offseason. This is one of the driving factors behind trade talks involving Richards not progressing, as well as the notion that the Hornets haven't been ready to part ways with the secondary big man due to his production and Mark Williams' inconsistency with remaining on the court.
Lakers among team to inquire about Nick Richards
As far as the Lakers pursuing Richards, no real traction on a deal ever materialized from Charlotte's point of view, sources said. Los Angeles has been in the market for a big man addition dating back to the trade deadline during the 2023-24 season and also explored the possibility of pursuing Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela in the offseason. Capela, along with Dejounte Murray, were two players the Lakers inquired about prior to the 2024 NBA Draft.
Recently, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that LA has been trying to find ways to get better at the center position due to Davis' ability to play alongside other big men and Christian Wood being injured. Of course, the question of who the Lakers could potentially trade for looms large.
Robert Williams III is expected to be a defensive-minded center who hits the trade block between the start of the season and the trade deadline in February, and Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler has heard his name come up countless times in trade rumors. With the Jazz rebuilding and not necessarily being sold on Kessler being their center of the future, the 2024-25 season could see the 23-year-old be packaged in a deal that includes one of Utah's veterans like Jordan Clarkson or John Collins.
Jonas Valanciunas, who signed a contract with the Washington Wizards in free agency after being connected to Los Angeles, could also emerge as a trade target for the Lakers ahead of the trade deadline. However, as a result of Valanciunas just joining the Wizards in free agency, he is ineligible to be traded before Dec. 15. Toronto Raptors big man Kelly Olynyk is another player who has been linked to the Lakers in the past. A couple of months into the new season, around the time Valanciunas becomes available in trade talks, is around the time that trade rumors surrounding Richards could begin to pick back up.
As was the case with the Lakers, the Hornets never came close to trading Richards away this offseason, sources said. Along with wanting to maintain flexibility with Williams being injured, Charlotte has liked the production and energy that Richards has brought. Among a handful of teams that showed interest in Richards this offseason, including the Lakers, the Knicks were eyeing the Hornets center well before anything happened with Towns, sources said, as a replacement for Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson in the frontcourt.
While it is unknown if they ever expressed interest in Richards, various scouts who spoke with ClutchPoints viewed the New Orleans Pelicans as an ideal landing spot if the Hornets were to show interest in trading the 26-year-old big man. The Pelicans lost Valanciunas in the offseason and have a glaring need at the center position that Richards could solve. The Phoenix Suns are a team that has long held interest in Richards as well.
Like the Lakers, another team that held interest this offseason in potentially buying low on frontcourt help was the Cleveland Cavaliers. Due to injury concerns surrounding Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen last season, Cleveland explored options of possibly adding depth at the center position, and a player like Richards would make sense given his small contract and ability to play in the low post. The Cavs never really went down the road of pursuing a trade for another center, as their primary focus was getting new deals done with Mobley, Allen, Donovan Mitchell, and, eventually, Isaac Okoro.
At some point, many around the league believe the Lakers will add some more depth alongside Davis in the frontcourt. Whether that player will be Richards in a trade with the Hornets is to be determined.
