The Lakers front office first chased after LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe in the opening days of free agency. But as team general manager Mitch Kupchak recently revealed, there was a backup plan in place all along.
“Not knowing what would happen, we had a contingency plan set up with Indiana,” Kupchak said during a TWC interview with Chris McGee. “If we did not get so-and-so and so-and-so, then the deal for Hibbert would kick in.”
The Lakers’ fallback position was an extremely safe gamble—trading only a future second-round draft pick to the Indiana Pacers, per Lakers.com. The team will also assume the final year of Hibbert’s contract at $15,514,031.
Hibbert joins an interesting mixture of veterans and very young players, including five-time champion Kobe Bryant and this year’s No. 2 draft pick, D’Angelo Russell. The youth contingent also includes last year’s No. 7 pick, Julius Randle, who missed all but 14 minutes of his rookie season with a broken leg, as well as Jordan Clarkson—the speedy NBA All-Rookie First Team selection.
It should be noted that Indiana was looking to move in a faster, smaller direction by trading Hibbert. At the end of the season, per Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star, Pacers coach Frank Vogel acknowledged the likelihood of a lesser role for the two-time All-Star.
“We'll have to see how it all plays out and what the roster ultimately looks like,” Vogel said, “but there's a possibility that Roy's role will be diminished, if we're trying to play faster and trying to play smaller.”
Meanwhile, ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
