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NBA Trade Rumors: Lakers May Target Jahlil Okafor

By Cody Williams

Dec 1, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) walks onto the floor after a timeout against the Los Angeles Lakers at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) walks onto the floor after a timeout against the Los Angeles Lakers at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Sixers are reportedly likely to trade Jahlil Okafor and the Lakers could be willing to make a deal for the big man

Seemingly the only question as to what the Los Angeles Lakers are going to do with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft is who the Philadelphia 76ers draft so that the Lakers can take the other out of Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram. However, there could be something else in the works regarding the Sixers and Lakers.

On Friday, reports began surfacing that the 76ers were likely to trade either Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel this offseason—a move that would seemingly clear the way for them to take Ben Simmons. However, what could shake things up is that the Lakers are team that could be interested in trading for Okafor.

According to Chad Ford of ESPN when asked about a hypothetical trade that would have the Lakers send the No. 2 pick for Okafor and the No. 17 selection, Ford didn’t shoot down the idea. The ESPN Insider stated that Los Angeles was heavily interesting Okafor in the draft last year and might be so inclined to try and trade for him now:

That certainly throws an interesting wrinkle into all of this, especially considering that playing Okafor at center would give the Lakers yet another young player as part of their core at a position of need.

Not only would that theoretically set the Lakers up better for the future, but acquiring Okafor also might make them a more attractive destination in free agency where they have a multitude of cap-room to operate with this summer.

However, the notion trading the No. 2 pick for a player like Okafor isn’t without a cause for concern. After all, Okafor had his share of maturity issues in Philadelphia as a rookie and, for an organization like the Lakers that’s attempting to establish a positive and professional culture, they may not want to throw another live grenade into the mix.

Moreover, the Lakers were one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season, so throwing a notoriously lackadaisical and awful defender into the mix like Okafor wouldn’t be ideal either.

Next: NBA Draft Rumors: 76ers Leaning Simmons, Leave LA Ingram

Again, this is all fodder at a time of year when there is a lot of hot air that begins circulating throughout the league. For a team like the Lakers that has so many different directions that they could ultimately go moving forward, though, you have to pay attention to it all.

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