How desperate are the Los Angeles Lakers in trying to pull off a transaction that would help them pry Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs? Let’s just say that they are willing to absorb another onerous contract provided that it also comes with a first-round pick, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.

Sources at several teams confirmed tidbits in those stories that the Lakers are reaching out across the league in search of an extra first-round pick, indicating they would take on some unwanted future salary to snare it — a fascinating twist, given L.A.'s need to hoard cap space. That alone indicates the Lakers are at least a little worried, and interested in nabbing Leonard now. If the Lakers build a super-ish team, their own future picks over the next three or four seasons lose value; they will presumably fall in the 20s. Thus the search for others.

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Among the teams the Lakers have reportedly contacted in search for that first-round pick is Denver.  Knowing that San Antonio is a hard customer to please and working under the impression that mortgaging some of their own future picks is not going to be enough for the Spurs to cough up Leonard, the Lakers are going out of their way to find another first-round pick to make their trade package even more enticing.

It might seem a bit too much for the Lakers to give up for a player who’s only going to be a controllable asset for one year, but it also just illustrates how deep the franchise’s craving is for a superstar.