Lakers' view on trading draft picks finally prioritizes a winning vision

The Rob Pelinka era has been marked by extraordinary highs and an absence of consistency. It's been the inevitable outcome of a period during which the Los Angeles Lakers have routinely swung for the fences in the hopes of surrounding LeBron James with enough talent to contend.

As the Lakers move on from an offseason that's been defined by a change of pace, Pelinka is shining a light on just how different the future could be.

Los Angeles won a championship in 2019-20 and reached the Western Conference Finals in 2022-23. Unfortunately, that success has been bookended by two first-round exits and two seasons during which the Lakers outright missed the playoffs.

During a preseason press conference, Pelinka indirectly acknowledged the franchise's recent inconsistency by stating that he'd only be willing to trade draft picks for sustainable solutions.

"I think the philosophy that JJ [Redick] and I are aligned on is: We want to build sustainable Lakers excellence...every lens that we look through has to lead to sustainable Lakers excellence. So the direct answer to your question is: Yes, we would do a trade with both [available first-round draft] picks if that would lead to sustainable Lakers excellence. We would also use one pick to make a marginal upgrade if we felt it was the right thing to do."

That response shows a degree of accountability from Pelinka, who has traded first-round draft picks for short-term value throughout his tenure.

Lakers will only trade draft picks if it leads to "sustainable excellence"

Pelinka gave up a first-round draft pick for Dennis Schröder in 2020, but lost the point guard to free agency after just one season. After accepting that Schröder wasn't coming back to Los Angeles, he immediately traded a first-rounder for Russell Westbrook.

The organization not only parted with Westbrook after a season-and-a-half, but gave up another first-round draft pick in a trade for D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt.

Russell is preparing for a second full season with the Lakers in 2024-25, but even he's been named in trade rumors. Thankfully, Redick has been disputing the reports of Russell's potential departure during his recent media rounds.

It's a welcome continuation of an offseason during which Pelinka has put his money where his mouth is by avoiding the quick fixes in favor of long-term resolutions.

It began at the 2024 NBA Draft, when the Lakers retained the rights to both of their draft picks. It continued when the Russell rumors amounted to nothing, and Los Angeles refrained from going all-in on players who they felt were unlikely to get them to where they hoped to be.

The preseason press conference offered verbal confirmation of this, as Pelinka thoroughly clarified how the Lakers will approach team-building moving forward.

As Pelinka noted, the time may come when trading draft picks is the best answer for the organization. Doing so for questionable fits and quality starters on expiring contracts, however, is exactly how the Lakers have failed to achieve consistency.

After years of erratic results, Pelinka is looking beyond the immediate future as he teams with Redick to return the Lakers to a period of sustainable excellence.