After rumors emerged that the Los Angeles Lakers wanted to trade their lottery pick in the 2016 NBA Draft for Paul George, general manager Mitch Kupchak has laughed off the idea as false.
This week, rumors quickly started flying around that the Los Angeles Lakers were eager to liven up their rebuild by trading their high lottery pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, pursuing a legitimate star in exchange for multiple high-value assets.
Once Paul George emerged as their trade target, the rumors had a little more backing, but Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has quickly laughed off the idea.
Serena Winters of Lakers Nation has relayed his comments on the matter, saying that he simply got a kick out of rumors that have supposedly come out of thin air.
Of course, Kupchak could be chuckling away these rumors due to the fact that he doesn’t want other teams to know what he’s planning. Otherwise, he may feel as though he’s helping other team’s draft plans and projections and may simply want a potential franchise-altering trade to remain off the radar.
Then again, when it comes to the rumor mill that surrounds the NBA’s hottest times of the year — the trade deadline, the draft, and free agency — many rumors amount to nothing or wind up being wrong, sometimes revealing stories that are more hypothetical than inevitable.
It goes without saying at this point that we really don’t know what to expect from the Lakers. But when considering what could be best for the team’s future (not every rebuild needs to be overnight, despite the history of the purple and gold), surely selecting a rare talent like Ben Simmons or an exciting wing like Brandon Ingram would be highly beneficial?
Not only would they have another young building block to go along Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell, but they’d acquire that young talent without losing assets in a trade or putting a major dent in their salary cap before they look to free agency.
Sometimes, it’s best to be patient. If you let your assets develop, keep your picks and use them wisely, then attract any free agents you can without panicking to make a trade, you’ll often reap the benefits.
For instance, just look at how good of a position the Boston Celtics are in.
We’ll just have to wait and see whether Kupchak is going to attack the draft with immediate turnaround in mind or future success. Because even with one superstar, this Lakers team is still far from being a title contender anyway.
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