The Los Angeles Lakers' offseason still lacks that bow on top. The job's not finished, and there is plenty of pressure to get this one wrapped up right. Rob Pelinka and company are only going to get so many chances based on what they have to work with.
In terms of draft pick capital, the Lakers surrendered most of it in the sign-and-trade to acquire Walker Kessler. Los Angeles gave up two unprotected first-round picks, and two more pick swaps. Those swaps are mostly fake, assuming LA remains the better team, and the price of entry on Kessler should be worth it. However, it does limit the flexibility of what the franchise can do from here.
There was some restoration to the draft pick equity of the Lakers when they dealt Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards for Jaden Hardy and a couple of second-round selections. That gave them three tradeable second-round picks and one pick swap to work with.
Emptying out all of those in just one deal would be unwise. At the very least, the Lakers need to be completely sold on the player who they are getting in return for that type of deal. Anything less than that would be inviting disaster to Angeles.
Lakers must maximize their remaining draft capital in trade negotiations
Ideally, the Lakers would love to complete their roster with someone of Jonathan Kuminga's caliber and not surrender everything they have to work with. Keeping ahold of the second-round picks would allow the franchise needed flexibility to chase an opportunistic upgrade that becomes available.
If the Lakers were to consider moving all of their draft assets in one trade before the summer is over, it would have to be pretty close to the perfect deal. Even if just looking at any single one of those picks, the move needs to be well thought out.
A great example of what not to do came courtesy of the Third Apron Podcast recently. Yossi Gozlan and Dane Moore flirted with the idea of the Minnesota Timberwolves trying to offload Josh Green on the Lakers for Jarred Vanderbilt, in exchange for absorbing their assets.
Even Gozlan eventually had to admit their may not be enough juice in Green's tank to command proper second-round equity. The Lakers emptying their asset pool to chase the former Luka Doncic teammate is unadvisable, even if it meant getting off Vanderbilt's salary.
Los Angeles still clearly needs to bring the roster from 16 to 15 ahead of the new season. They could also benefit from adding a starting-caliber forward. The path to get there must be calculated. Without worthwhile commitments to draw out their draft picks, being frugal may benefit the Lakers best here.
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