The Los Angeles Lakers are in championship contender mode, which means that the team is going to be more likely to make more aggressive moves. We saw this last offseason when Rob Pelinka made several different moves that resulted in a far different roster in 2021 than we saw the year prior.
The same can be said this offseason. The Lakers do not have much financial flexibility so they are going to have to take a risk. Risky moves such as trading for Kemba Walker should absolutely not be ruled out for the Lakers.
One thing that can confidently be ruled out is the Los Angeles Lakers trading the 22nd overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
The pick remained with the Lakers as it was protected so long that they didn’t pick in the top seven and now LA has the chance to make a true first-round selection for the first time since 2018.
The Lakers sent the 28th overall pick in last year’s draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder when swapping Danny Green for Dennis Schroder. We will not see a deal like that this year and it has nothing to do with the pick being six spots higher.
It simply makes more sense for the Lakers to hold onto the selection for two reasons in particular. Let’s dive into those reasons.