Lakers dodged a bullet when Kristaps Porziņģis was traded to Atlanta
The Boston Celtics, who have already moved point guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers, agreed to send center Kristaps Porziņģis to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. They will receive forward Georges Niang and a second-round draft pick in return, and it is believed that this trade is essentially a salary dump for Boston.
Porzingis was named to the All-Star game during the 2017-18 season and has consistently put up strong numbers. He averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game while shooting 48.3% from the field and 41.2% from 3-point range this season.
The Los Angeles Lakers were reportedly one team that reached out to the Celtics about getting Porzingis, per Brett Siegel.
Via ClutchPoints:
'The next order of business in Boston is trading Kristaps Porziņģis, sources said. As he enters the final year of his contract, Porzingis has drawn interest from several teams in both conferences. The [New Orleans] Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, and Toronto Raptors are a few of the 10-12 teams that have been in contact with the Celtics on Porzingis and others, sources said.'
It is safe to say that the Lakers dodged a bullet by striking out on Porzingis.
There is no doubt that he is a very good and effective player on both ends of the floor. He could've given them another legitimate offensive threat and 3-point sniper while helping them protect the rim and giving them a nice defensive anchor. But the risks outweigh the benefits with him.
He has always been injury-prone. He appeared in just 42 regular-season games this year and in 57 games last season, and in his 10 NBA seasons, he has played in a grand total of 501 contests. He missed all of the 2018-19 campaign after tearing his ACL in February 2018, and he dealt with a mysterious illness during this year's playoffs that limited his playing time and production.
After the injury risk that Anthony Davis always presented for the Lakers, and after dealing with other key players over the years who were injury-prone (remember Andrew Bynum?), relying on someone as fragile as Porzingis to plug their massive hole at the 5 would've been asking for trouble.
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