Reggie Bullock has come into his own as of late with the Detroit Pistons in a new role in Detroit’s backcourt, primarily in a starting role. The three-and-D wingman’s value has never been higher and the Motor City has elected to move on from Bullock for future assets, courtesy of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Following comes from Frank Isola and Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The Los Angles Lakers are poised to make a trade…just not that trade. According to a league source, Lakers are close to acquiring Reggie Bullock from the Pistons for Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) February 6, 2019
Sources: The Lakers are trading guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and a draft pick to Detroit for guard Reggie Bullock. Deal is expected to be completed Wednesday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2019
Detroit will create a $2.5 million trade exception with the deal. The Pistons confirmed the deal on Wednesday afternoon.
The move for the Lakers is a small risk but nothing too crazy for what their alleged plans are. A second round pick and a rookie bench guard not getting much playing time as it is for an six-year NBA veteran posting career-high numbers seems to be a pretty even deal for both sides, as the deal currently stands. Bullock is in the final year of his deal but the Lakers do retain his bird rights. He’s expected to join the Lakers main rotation and provide some much needed shooting.
Bullock, 27, is in his fourth season with the Pistons averaging a career-high in points per game (12), assists per game (2.5) and rebounds per game (2.8) while playing a career-high 30 minutes per contest. He’s also shooting 41 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from three-point range. According to Second Spectrum data, courtesy of ESPN, Bullock is shooting 39.8 percent on catch-and-shoot three-pointers this season. That would rank first among Lakers players with at least 50 catch-and-shoot 3s.
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is a 21-year-old rookie out of Kansas born in the Ukraine who has been pinpointed as potentially another great sharpshooting guard. Unfortunately for him, he never really got that chance on a Lakers team looking to win now and not let a young guard get his feet wet in the league. Svi has played 39 games this season, all off the bench, but only about 10 minutes per game.
