Rumor: Lakers contacted Kings about Buddy Hield for Talen Horton-Tucker swap

The Los Angeles Lakers have reached out to the Kings regarding a Buddy Hield for Talen Horton-Tucker swap according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports.

“League sources have told me the Lakers have reached out to the Kings about a Horton-Tucker package for Hield,” Haynes said on his Posted Up podcast. “Obviously, the Kings are like ‘No, we feel like there’s more lucrative deals out there.’ The Kings are going to be active. They’ve got a whole bunch of people calling them.”

For salary matching purposes, Los Angeles would have to include another salary, likely Kendrick Nunn and a few of their minimum guys to make a deal like this work. The Lakers are also unable to trade a first-round draft pick until the year 2027, so it would be a bit surprising to see them include one in a deal for Hield.

Hield was nearly a Laker last offseason before trade talks fell through with the Lakers instead deciding to use those assets and more to trade for Russell Westbrook. Hield would be a tremendous fit in Los Angeles spacing out next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and would likely buy into a role where he plays off of that type of star power.

Horton-Tucker has familiarity with one of the Kings’ main cornerstones, Tyrese Haliburton as the guards were teammates as freshmen at Iowa State during the 2018-19 season.

As a player, the theory of Horton-Tucker and what he could be is better than the actual version. So, if the Kings were to do this type of trade, they’d have to believe in Horton-Tucker’s long-term outlook and potential for growth at just 21 years old.

Horton-Tucker is certainly an intriguing talent, but it also makes sense that the Kings feel like they can come up with something better for Hield. We will just have to see where Hield ends up over the next couple of weeks to determine if that ends up being the case.