Lakers fans collectively held their breath on Tuesday night as the NBA draft lottery played out. Los Angeles needed to be in the top-3 to maintain their pick; otherwise, it would have gone to Philadelphia.
When the number four selection was revealed and the Lakers logo was not present, the city sighed with relief. They ended up with the second pick in the draft, meaning they can select one of the top two consensus players available, Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, depending on who the Sixers take first.
That is, if they keep the pick. A number of reports have stated that the Lakers intend to trade the number two selection, possibly packaging it with a young prospect to bring in an established star.
Right after the lottery wrapped up, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said that no conversations about trading the pick had taken place yet. Still, he admitted that they have “something more to sell than [they] did a year ago.”
That takes us to his comments earlier today.
While talking with CBS Sports' Bill Reiter on Thursday on AM 570 in L.A., Kupchak shifted gears by saying that the Lakers plan to keep the pick, for now.
Mitch says their intention at this time is to use their No. 2 pick.
— Coach Anthony Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) May 19, 2016
Part of why they may opt to hold on to the selection is the probability that they won't be able to see eye-to-eye with a potential trade partner. If the Lakers move the pick, they're going to want a significant talent in return.
Mitch: Just off the top of my head, there aren’t many players we’d use the pick to trade for.
— Coach Anthony Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) May 19, 2016
Some names that have been mentioned (but are still very unlikely) as possible targets for Los Angeles are Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, and Carmelo Anthony. Good luck with that.
Teams don't trade star players often, especially when there's uncertainty involved in the package they're receiving in return (yes, Simmons and Ingram are both projected to be great, but plenty of college stars don't pan out professionally).
Paul George was also mentioned in rumors as a possible trade target. Again, it appears unlikely from the outside, but the Ringer's Bill Simmons thinks that it's a possibility at the very least.
If the Lakers offered Indy their top-3 pick plus Russell for PG13… I mean… I don't think Indy says yes but it's def a meeting.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) May 4, 2016
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