L.A. Lakers vs. Detroit Pistons: A Mid-Summer’s Night Blowout!
The Summer Games in Las Vegas could step up trade talks
The Summer League season began for the Lakers the same way their NBA Playoff season ended – with a blowout. And they were on the wrong end.
This time it was the Summer squad for the Eastern Conference’s Number 2 team, the Detroit Pistons that blew away their counterparts from Los Angeles, 84-73, last night in Las Vegas.
The Pistons led from the outset going up 20-15 at the end of the first quarter and 42-32 at halftime.
The Lakers held the Pistons to just five points in the first five minutes of the third quarter and cut the Pistons lead to 59-56 by the end of the period. But then the Pistons reversed the trend and held the Lakers squad to five points in the first five minutes of the final stanza to pick up the win.
Even though it was only a Summer League game, the contest brought up the possibility of some roster changes and trades for the upcoming NBA season.
With the emergence of the Number 15 player in the 2007 NBA draft, Rodney Stuckey, there is a clear possibility that Chauncey Billups may be traded away. Stucky, who grew in confidence with his playoff experience this past season, picked up where he left off, leading all scorers with 21 points, 4 assists and 5 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Another one of last years picks, UCLA’s Arron Afflalo scored 15 points in 30 minutes of action. So with Stuckey emerging as the new point guard and Afflalo, a reserve guard ready for more playing time, a trade may definitely be in the offing.
On the Lakers side, their leading scorer for the night was Coby Karl, the son of Denver Nuggets head coach, George Karl, who attended the game. Karl had 14 points, going 2-for-4 on 3-point shots, 28 minutes.
The 6-5 guard from Boise State, who saw very limited action this past season with the Lakers, averaged 17.5 PPG in 17 games with the L.A. Defenders of the D-League with a very decent .450 FGP and a .411 3PP. Karl’s continued development could make restricted free agent, Sasha Vujacic, expendable.
The Lakers could opt not to match any offers for Vujacic or package him as part of a sign-and-trade deal.
The other Los Angeles team, the Clippers got some good news last night after bemoaning the loss of star player, Elton Brand, to the Philadelphia Sixers. The Clippers Summer League squad crushed their Dallas counterparts, 86-69.
But the really good news was that their first round pick and Number 7 overall, Indiana’s Eric Gordon, was the leading scorer with 23 points and 7 rebounds and shooting 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.
The Clippers, who had been in trade talks with the New York Knicks to replace Brand with Zach Randolph, will most likely let Donnie Walsh know that Eric Gordon is untouchable. If Walsh wants to dump Randolph’s $48 million contract, he will have to come up with other names.
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