Lakers To Trade Vincent, Second-Round Pick To Hawks For Kennard

The Lakers and Hawks have agreed to a trade, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears from sources that Atlanta is acquiring guard Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick from Los Angeles in exchange for sharpshooter Luke Kennard.

Dan Woike of The Athletic first reported (Twitter link) that the Lakers were closing in on a deal sending Vincent to the Hawks.

The players have similar expiring contracts with Kennard at $11MM and Vincent at $11.5MM, so the trade won’t carry any major financial implications. The second-rounder heading to Atlanta will be the Lakers’ own.

The Hawks will create an $11MM Traded Player Exception in the deal, Charania adds (Twitter link). That means they’re likely to absorb Vincent’s contract into the TPE from last year’s Bogdan Bogdanovic trade, which is set to expire on Friday.

The Lakers parted with their last available second-round pick in the trade, notes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Twitter link). However, he points out that the $500K they save in the exchange could be useful on the buyout market.

Finding another shooter was among the Lakers’ priorities heading into the deadline, and they’re able to fill that role with Kennard, who’s connecting at 49.7% from beyond the arc in 46 games this season. Kennard, 29, is also a Duke alum, just like head coach JJ Reddick.

Vincent, 29, wasn’t able to provide the value the Lakers were hoping when they signed him as a free agent in the summer of 2023. Injuries played a role as he was limited to 11 games in his first season in L.A. and has appeared in just 29 this year. He’ll get a fresh start in Atlanta before becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer.