Lakers Trade Rumors: Stars To Target If Moving NBA Draft Pick
The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly interested in trading their 2016 NBA Draft pick. Which stars might be realistically attainable under such circumstances?
The Los Angeles Lakers are in unfamiliar territory. There are three young players with immense potential on the roster—restricted free agent Jordan Clarkson, point guard D’Angelo Russell, and power forward Julius Randle—but lack the necessary patience to execute a progressive rebuild.
With Jim Buss placing pressure on himself to return the Lakers to prominence as quickly as possible, that rebuild may end before it begins.
According to Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports, the Lakers are hell-bent on trading their 2016 NBA Draft pick.
"I've been told by 2 separate sources -- even if the Lakers get the No. 1 pick, they're trading it." - @ColinCowherdhttps://t.co/kHG6mV9TPP
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) May 3, 2016
That’d be a monumental development, to say the very least.
This all must be prefaced by stating that the Lakers’ 2016 NBA Draft pick is Top 3 protected. In other words, if the Lakers—currently in possession of the second-best lottery odds—fall out of the Top 3, the rights to the pick will transfer to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The upside: if the Lakers keep the draft pick, then one of the three players who are viewed as future stars—Dragan Bender, Brandon Ingram, and Ben Simmons—would be available to the prospective trade partner.
All three of those players, along with upside wing Jaylen Brown, complete point guard Kris Dunn, and rising star Jamal Murray, are highly regarded by scouts across the NBA. That creates six attractive opportunities for teams to, potentially, land a young cornerstone of the organization.
The question is, which stars might be realistically available for the Lakers to acquire with a draft pick and some combination of Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and D’Angelo Russell?
Next: A Realistic Swap