Lakers Rumors: Ryan West could leave to join his father with Clippers

Apr 9, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Statues of Los Angeles Lakers former guard Jerry West (44) and center Shaquille O'Neal (34) outside of the Staples Center during a NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 9, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Statues of Los Angeles Lakers former guard Jerry West (44) and center Shaquille O'Neal (34) outside of the Staples Center during a NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Recent Lakers rumors are that they could be losing one of the brightest minds in their organization. Could Ryan West leave the Lakers?

With the offseason here, most Lakers rumors have been about their plan for free agency and the NBA Draft. However, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding what will happen with Laker great Jerry West.

Recently, it was announced that West will be leaving the Golden State Warriors to take a special consultant job with the Los Angeles Clippers.

After winning a title with the Warriors, West appears to be looking for his next challenge. The Clippers are certainly going to be one for West. This offseason, the Clippers will be attempting to keep both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, who are free agents.

Despite having a good core in recent years, the Clippers haven’t been able to get over the hump in the Western Conference. As one of the reasons why the Warriors were able to create such a good roster, West will now be trying to do the same with the Clippers.

Seeing West go to the Clippers is surely a strange sight for Lakers fans, but there could be some more bad news coming. According to Broderick Turner of the LA Times, Jerry’s son Ryan could be leaving the Lakers to join his dad.

"There is a strong chance that West’s son, Ryan West, who is the Lakers’ director of player personnel, will join the Clippers in some capacity, one executive said."

Ryan has been highly touted as a great basketball mind like his father in recent years. West has moved his way up in the organization in recent years. Now, there is a possibility that they could lose him to the Clippers.

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As someone who has helped the Lakers draft well in recent years, the Lakers surely don’t want to lose West before the draft starts. If West does leave the Lakers, it could certainly be a blow to the front office.

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