Lakers Offseason: 5 Bold Moves the Team Could Make This Summer
By Eric Yee
3. Draft Simmons/Ingram and Package Them For a Star Player
The Lakers are technically not allowed to trade their pick for a player unless that player is also packaged with a first round draft pick. This means that instead of trading the pick, the Lakers could field who their trade partner preferred, in regards to Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram, and go from there.
Seeing how Los Angeles will basically scoop up whoever the Philadelphia 76ers don’t pick this would likely limit their amount of trade partners. That said, unlike years past, there still isn’t a clear number one choice, and the Lakers know that and will use it to their advantage when talking to other teams.
Players like Jimmy Butler, Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins seem to be the most probable targets especially considering general manger, Mitch Kupchak’s latest comments about trading their draft pick but it’s unlikely that the draft pick alone would be enough to get a player of that caliber let alone an extra first round draft pick, something we’ll discuss in the next slide.
Further, this would be directly ignoring the situation that got them here in the first place — haphazardly trading for Steve Nash. Let’s hope that the Mitch and the front office has finally learned from their mistakes.
Next: Sign and Trade Jordan Clarkson