NBA Rumors: Lakers Trade Target Doesn't Want To Play With LeBron James and Anthony Davis

The Los Angeles Lakers may have had a big win in Brooklyn last night, but the team is still actively looking to add depth pieces to make a run at a championship this season. The Lakers have been looking to improve their roster, reportedly offering packages revolving around Kendrick Nunn and Talen Horton-Tucker and a 2027 first-round pick, but nothing has happened as of yet. One reason for the holdup in a proposed trade with the Detroit Pistons, sending the aforementioned package to Detroit for Jerami Grant, is the fact that Grant apparently doesn't want to play a diminished role "behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis." Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus explained on his recent appearance on The NBA Chats:

He left Denver to become a primary offensive player on a team. That’s how he views himself, right or wrong. I don’t think he wants to go back to being what he was in Denver, which was the primary defender and a catch-and-shoot guy. Playing in a corner, 3-and-D — I just don’t think that’s what he wants. That’s going to limit the number of teams that go after him.

It's hard to argue with his analysis. Without even bringing up Russell Westbrook's touches, it's hard to imagine Grant being the guy chosen to start the offence, and he would likely be relegated to the corner more often than not. Pincus highlights Grant's desire to be the number one or number two option as his main reasoning for leaving Denver, and while the 27-year-old impending unrestricted free agent doesn't have a no-trade clause, most teams won't feel comfortable giving up too much for a rental player if Grant has no intentions on resigning with that team in the offseason:

...He doesn’t want to play a tertiary role behind LeBron and AD. The Lakers would also have to invest big money (extension) in him. There’s also the issue of return value for a rebuilding Pistons team.

Both the Lakers and Pistons are expected to make trades ahead of the deadline on February 10th, but they likely will not be trading with each other.