There has been a lot of trade buzz surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers all summer long. They've made a few moves this offseason, but none of them have been of the landscape-shifting variety. There are some who believe that LA's inability to bring a new star in stems from their unwillingness to part ways with some of their most valuable future assets: their 2027 and 2029 draft picks.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka spoke out about this specific subject. According to the high-ranking team executive, the team is more than willing to trade away these picks with the objective of building a more formidable team around LeBron James (h/t Michael Corvo of Twitter):
“Let me be abundantly clear: We have one of the great players in LeBron James to ever play the game on our team. And he committed to us with a long-term contract,” Pelinka said. “… So, of course, we will do everything we can, picks included, to make deals that give us a chance to help LeBron get to the end. He committed to our organization – that’s gotta be a bilateral commitment.”
Pelinka did provide one major caveat, though. The 52-year-old also noted that despite their willingness to part ways with these aforementioned picks, the Lakers are also being prudent with regard to finding the best trade scenario for the team:
“But let me be also be clear,” he continued. “… Teams can’t trade all their picks every team. You can only trade every other year. … You have one shot to make a trade with multiple picks. … So if you make that trade, … it has to be the right one. … So we’re being very thoughtful around the decisions on when and how to use draft capital in a way that can improve our roster.”
The Lakers have also been linked to a potential Russell Westbrook trade that will reportedly require them to include one or both of these future draft picks in the trade package. LA obviously hasn't pulled the trigger on this move, so it is clear that they haven't found the best deal available for them.
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