Lakers Rumors: Possible draft day trades for the Lakers
By Jason Reed
The most prevalent Lakers rumors have been regarding who they will potentially draft in the 2017 NBA Draft. However, what trades could they make instead?
The 2017 NBA Draft has already been filled with so much anticipation, Lakers rumors, and drama and it is still just over two weeks away. For months Laker fans had to sit and wait to discover if they would maintain their first overall selection, losing it if it fell outside of the top three.
These worries were amplified when the Lakers went on a season-long five game win streak. This win streak had taken their chances from fairly high, to less than fifty percent, leaving many to assume that they would not be getting a first round pick until the Rockets selection rolled around.
The Lakers did not want to tank to guarantee a draft pick. As Julius Randle put it when discussing the idea of tanking, “The basketball gods, I believe in that, it’ll come back and haunt you so you don’t do that, you gotta treat the game with respect.”
That good karma came back in their favor as well. The Lakers managed to land the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The team they were battling with for a worse record, the Phoenix Suns, fell outside the top three, getting the fourth selection. That could have been the Lakers without that win streak, meaning the 76ers would have gotten the third and fourth overall pick.
So it was evident that the basketball gods were indeed with the Los Angeles Lakers for this draft. The Lakers must not waste this opportunity and make the most of it. Therefore, here are three draft day trades we could see from the Lakers.