Lakers Rumors: No. 2 Pick And Julius Randle In Play For Cousins
By Pablo Jacobo
The Los Angeles Lakers are puling out all the stops to acquire Sacramento’s All-Star DeMarcus Cousins. In fact, according to reports they are willing to include the No. 2 pick in Thursday’s draft as well as Julius Randle. Seems like a lot to some, but for a talent like DMC, it’s worth it.
I like Randle, but cracks me up how many fans fear him being dealt/value him so high. Played ONE GAME. He's not defined yet. Boogie is.
— Mark Willard (@Mark_T_Willard) June 23, 2015
Everyone seems content to wait on the development of Randle, Jordan Clarkson and whomever the Lakers select with the second pick. More than likely it will be Jahlil Okafor but D’Angelo Russell is still very much in play. For all we know, these rookies can become future All-Stars but on the other hand they cannot. That’s quite a gamble don’t you think? For the record I’ll be content whichever direction the franchise decides.
The Lakers will simply be continuing their long tradition of prying big-men from other teams. Hall of Fame bigs like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Adbul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol and even Dwight Howard made the move to Los Angeles. The D12 experiment failed miserably so there is a chance the Cousins trade could backfire too.
Now that the jury is out on Cousins, other teams are going to get into the mix. Another rumor surfaced that Kings HC George Karl prefers to trade the volatile 24-year-old to the Denver Nuggets for Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried. An interesting transaction but all depends if the Kings will give in. The relationship between Cousins and Karl has become strained and one of them may have to go. Apparently Cousins had asked the Kings to trade him a month ago. Thursday’s draft will be very interesting. What does this mean for the Lakers? Like all rumors, some don’t even come to fruition.
When was the last time a rumor involving the Lakers ever materialized? Exactly.
— Beto Durán ⭕️ (@DuranSports) June 23, 2015
You can’t blame the Lakers for trying to trade for DeMarcus. He’s a stud on the court, granted a little unstable but he’s a pretty damn good player. He averaged 24 points, 12 boards and 4 assists, 47 double-doubles and two triple-doubles. The Lakers can surely use those numbers.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, Cousins led the NBA in points in the paint per game (12.5) over Howard and Anthony Davis. The Lakers were 25th in the entire league in points in the paint. Cousins is also 1 of 15 players in NBA history to average 24 and 12 for the season before the age of 25; 12 of 15 are HOF.
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Fans seem to forget that Jim Buss gave himself a three-year window to get the Lakers into title contention. Do you think he’s going to wait around in hopes the rookies blossom in 2015-16 season? This would surely be an aggressive move to improve the team. Bringing in Cousins, who will be making $15M, $16M and $18M for the next three years, will not cut into their financial flexibility. Gives LA a chance to sign another impact player plus doesn’t hamper the plans after the 2016 season.
It’s a huge risk, I know, but a move like this is similar to what the late great Dr. Jerry Buss would sign off on. Dr. Buss was a risk taker and the Lakers thrived off of that. Every fan is still bitter about the D12 and Steve Nash deals but at the time, everyone was jumping up and down praising the front office.
All in all nothing may come of these rumors. Agents love to use the Lakers as leverage for their clients. This is no different than the Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler to LA reports. The Lakers have a plan for the future and will look to execute it beginning on Thursday with draft.