Lakers News: Team Won’t Slowly Rebuild Through the Draft

The Los Angeles Lakers were relieved when they were able to keep their 2015 NBA draft pick. When they moved up from four to two, the Lakers were ecstatic. General manager Mitch Kupchak even popped a battle of champagne in celebration of landing the second overall pick.

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This year’s draft pick should help accelerate the rebuilding process, but it’s only the beginning. The Lakers will also enter the free agency hoping to add more talent on the roster. The team that will take the floor next year should be much better than this past season’s squad.

The Lakers are not used to being a lottery team, which they’ve been the last two years. Free agency is where the Lakers have dominated in the past and that is where Kupchak hopes to rebuild moving forward. According to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report, Kupchak and the Lakers don’t have the time to rebuild through the draft:

Ideally, the Lakers will be drafting their franchise player for the next 10 to 15 years. The Lakers don’t want to let ping pong balls decide their future again, so they need to reload with some talent quick.

With the salary cup going up in each of the next two seasons, the Lakers will have more financial flexibility. Not only is Los Angeles a premiere destination, but now the Lakers will be able to aggressively pursue free agents and even over pay to make sure they can put a team together that can be a contender.