Lakers Rumors: Possible draft day trades for the Lakers
By Jason Reed
We have talked about this potential deal multiple times, and every time I dive deeper and deeper into it I realize how great this deal would be for the Lakers. Chris Broussard, on Fox Sports One’s show The Herd, mentioned how perfect a fit Lonzo Ball would be on the Minnesota Timberwolves. There is no way Minnesota can land Ball with the seventh pick, so they would need to trade up.
The second overall pick would be perfect for the Timberwolves to draft Ball. The Lakers are the primary players in the Ball sweepstakes, so by swapping picks with them, the Timberwolves are effectively guaranteeing that they can select the UCLA point guard. Lonzo Ball is essentially a better scoring Ricky Rubio and would give Minnesota a great young three.
The Lakers return on this selection would be huge as well. The idea of bringing in Zach LaVine is also prevalent, however coming of off ACL surgery the Lakers may not want to take that risk. Still, a package of the seventh pick and promising players Kris Dunn and Shabazz Muhammad is a fantastic return.
The Lakers then get two more young guys to develop, essentially amplifying their depth on the roster, and they are still getting a high draft pick. Once again, if the Lakers want to bring in another guard in the draft there will be plenty available with at selection number seven, which would give them four young guards with their selection, Dunn, Jordan Clarkson, and D’Angelo Russell.
Overall, this deal seems like a no-brainer for the Los Angeles Lakers. Ball is such a perfect fit on the Timberwolves that they cannot afford to pass him up, allowing the Lakers to capitalize.