Lakers reportedly interested in Magic wing Terrence Ross

There are three certainties in life.

1. Death
2. Taxes
3. The Lakers being interested in acquiring Terrence Ross for the Magic.

Pick a year and the Lakers probably expressed interest in trading for Ross. They did in 2018. They did in 2019. Even as recently as earlier this year, the Lakers discussed trading for Ross around the trade deadline for last season.

This season, the interest is coming slightly earlier but is there all the same as Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported on Tuesday that the Lakers are once again interested in Ross.

There are certainly pieces for Orlando to move ahead of this season’s deadline, but the Magic won’t be gaining nearly the return they saw two years before.

Terrence Ross has long garnered interest from the Los Angeles Lakers, sources said.

Ross has long established himself as a capable scorer off the bench as he’s only started 10 games in the last five seasons despite playing in 288 total in that span. After dipping last season, Ross’ 3-point shooting has rebounded to 36.6% this season, up from 29.2% a year prior. For his career, he’s a 36.2% 3-point shooter, which falls in line with his percentage this season.

According to Cleaning the Glass, Ross has played only 16% of his minutes at small forward this season. However, he played 74% of his minutes there last season and 48% there the year prior. At 6’7”, he’s a capable wing and would be the tallest non-center or power forward on the Lakers roster.

He’s in the final year of his deal, slated to make $11.5 million this season, which makes him a more enticing trade target. Swapping him for Patrick Beverley, for example, could be feasible at least financially.

Will this be the year they finally pull the trigger? Probably not. They’re just leaking their interest now to move onto the next step of trade discussions. It’s simply their annual tradition. Some people break the wishbone of a turkey at Thanksgiving or set New Year’s resolutions. The Lakers just choose to express interest in Terrence Ross.

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