The Lakers reportedly want to trade for Paul George this offseason using their top-3 pick in the draft
The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to make big noise this offseason in virtually every regard. They’ve already landed the top head coaching candidate in Luke Walton, they could potentially have a top-3 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, they are due to have over $60 million in room under the salary cap with a slew of big-name free agents hitting the open market, and they could always look to make a trade.
In terms of trades, though, there really hadn’t been much word about any potential moves the Lakers might make. Even with DeMarcus Cousins reportedly being on the block, LA really hadn’t been connected to anyone in particular. That all changed on Wednesday with a report that the Lakers are eyeing a huge piece of the puzzle in Indiana Pacers forward Paul George.
Bill Simmons of The Ringer (formerly of ESPN and Grantland) reported on Wednesday that there were murmurs that the Lakers are planning on heavily pursuing Paul George with their 2016 first-round draft pick being at the center of the deal:
Also hearing that the Lakers want to make a BIG run at Paul George with their top-3 pick plus other stuff. (Not that they'd get him...)
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) May 4, 2016
The first and most obvious note from this is the fact that it’s not even guaranteed that the Lakers are going to have that top-3 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft to try and negotiate a trade with. They’ll know in less than two weeks once the NBA Draft Lottery plays out, but there’s still a chance that pick could be sent to the Philadelphia 76ers if it fall outside of the first three selections.
However, a more intriguing note is Simmons’ inclusion of the parenthetical “not that they’d get him.” Though the Lakers are notorious for not leaking anything, seeing that makes you wonder if they leaked this bit of information because there’s no way that the Pacers are going to make this deal and so there’s no harm nor foul of leaking the information.
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Obviously there are still a lot of dominoes that need to fall before anything regarding this trade becomes even remotely clear. However, having Simmons throw it out there is sure to spark a fair amount buzz around the Lakers and get fans dreaming of having one of the best small forwards in basketball playing in Los Angeles.