That phenomenon continued on Wednesday when Los Angeles landed point guard Jose Calderon in a trade with the Chicago Bulls.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical broke the news of the Calderon trade. Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reported the Lakers acquired two future second-round picks while renouncing the rights to an undetermined player.
Basketball Insiders' Tommy Beer best summarized L.A.'s rationale for acquiring Calderon:
With a young, new head coach in Luke Walton taking over a talented but youthful squad, the need for a veteran mentor was glaring. Although Luol Deng agreeing to a deal, per The Vertical's Shams Charania, helped in that area, Calderon further bolsters the cause in a big way.
Deng will be more of a direct mentor to No. 2 overall draft pick Brandon Ingram, whereas Calderon will be working frequently with second-year player D'Angelo Russell.
Although Calderon doesn't have a ton of experience on winning teams, his proficient distributing ability and his three-point shooting should help Los Angeles.
The 34-year-old is a savvy floor general Walton can count on to run the offense well. That should help compensate for the probable errors Russell will make as he continues to acclimate to the pros.
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak may not be done rounding out the roster for 2016-17, though. Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless is a restricted free agent, and as Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler reported, L.A. has been keeping an eye on him for some time:
Harkless is an intriguing player who is only 23 years old, can play the 3 or the 4 and can play defense just about anywhere. He explained how he did so in the opening round o...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
