**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins

[trynafeelmink]

Team showed the Blueprint to them being successful last season. Keep the depth, allow AD/Bron to be able to have nights where they "cruise" and could still get victories.

Only thing missing is small around the edges moves (Turn Beasley/Bamba into another rotational guy) Try everything in their power to keep the full MLE open and that proably lands you a starting level big to pair next to AD.

I'm 100% against anything that involves trading depth for another "star" , we've saw how that worked the last time. My two ideal targets are getting Caruso back (Him, Vando & AD on the court at one time ) And bringing in a guy like NazReid for the MLE, Bring back D'Lo, AR & Rui

And take a swing on another big with your Draft pick. Delon Wright is also someone i've been wanting for a few summers now & he could be had for the low.

 

[pmatic]

 

[MVP]

If he's there that kid should be the pick.

 

[moonman818]

He looks good.

Also wouldn't be mad at that big man from FC Barcelona.

 

[lovehateself]

latest mock i saw had lively going top 13

 

[sohi 23]

Bufkin or Podz for me

 

[tonelow]

Gonna have to trade up if Lively is their guy.

If Lively is gone, I want Keyonte. Reminds me of Ant Simons when he came out, not as explosive tho.

There are like 5 guys in that range that I would be happy with, so I’m good with whoever they take.

 

[essential1]

 

[MIKE LOWERY]

Buddy deal looking shaky.

 

[pmatic]

Spoiler

Lakers NBA Draft intel: Options for No. 17, and why a trade is increasingly possible

The first domino of the Lakers’ offseason is Thursday’s NBA Draft, when Los Angeles will have a pivotal opportunity to bolster their roster ahead of free agency.

The Lakers have the No. 17 and 47 picks, but there has been a growing buzz in recent days that the Lakers, more likely than not, will trade their pick, whether it’s moving up, down or out of the draft altogether, multiple team sources not authorized to speak publicly told The Athletic.

What are their various options? Let’s take a look.

1. Keep the No. 17 pick
A few weeks ago, the Lakers were leaning toward keeping their pick. But there has been an increasing buzz in recent days that the Lakers are now more likely to deal their pick to leverage a golden opportunity to improve the roster on draft night, those team sources said.

In the scenario that they stand pat and keep the No. 17 pick, the Lakers’ decade-long track record suggests they’ll find a useful player. The Lakers’ scouting department, spearheaded by assistant general manager and co-owner Jesse Buss, and vice president of research and development and co-owner Joey Buss, is one of the best in the league. They have found underrated talent at all points of the draft.

It’s a delicate balance, but the Lakers can potentially find a player who can contribute right away, but also develop into a core piece of the future. They have been consistently linked to five names in recent weeks: Kobe Bufkin, Dereck Lively II, Jett Howard, Nick Smith Jr. and Noah Clowney. All five players are projected to go anywhere from the No. 10 pick to the early 20s. Howard, the 6-foot-7 Michigan wing, is projected to go No. 17 in Sam Vecenie’s latest mock draft for The Athletic.

2. Combine the pick with salary filler to upgrade the rotation
The Lakers have until June 29 to decide on whether to exercise Malik Beasley’s $16.5 million team option and guarantee Mo Bamba’s $10.3 million non-guaranteed contract. The primary value in exercising Beasley’s option and guaranteeing Bamba’s salary, aside from potentially keeping one or both players, is to trade the two players and their combined $26.8 million salary for another rotation player or two. Ideally, such a trade would yield a starter that can seamlessly plug in next to LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, a restricted free agent the Lakers are expecting to retain.

(Though there has been no formal announcement yet, the Lakers continue to operate as if James will be back next season, despite him hinting at the possibility of retirement in a news conference following the Lakers’ season-ending Game 4 defeat to Denver in the West finals.)

The framework of a deal would likely involve Beasley, Bamba and the No. 17 pick getting exchanged for a starter-level player. The Lakers could also execute a smaller deal with only one of Beasley or Bamba, plus, potentially, the pick. Names around the league that have been linked to the Lakers in recent weeks include Indiana’s Myles Turner and Buddy Hield, Brooklyn’s Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale, Toronto’s Gary Trent Jr. and Washington’s Kristaps Porziņģis, according to multiple league sources not authorized to speak publicly.

If the Lakers make a trade on draft night, it’s possibly a signal that they’re again using “pre-agency” – a term that Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka coined at the trade deadline — in place of retaining some of their own free agents. The salaries of James, Davis, whoever they get back from a Beasley and Bamba deal, Jarred Vanderbilt (the Lakers will guarantee his $4.6 million contract) and Max Christie add up to roughly $120 million. That’s before factoring in the likely re-signings of Reaves and Rui Hachimura (projected to be an additional $26 to $30 million in salary for next season), and the potential re-signings of D’Angelo Russell, Dennis Schröder and Lonnie Walker IV.

In the blink of an eye, the Lakers’ team salary could be pushing past $170 million with just eight or nine players on their roster. Add in at least four more players, if not five or six, and the Lakers would cross the dreaded second apron line (a projected $179.5 million). While the Lakers will likely have to remain above the luxury tax, if not above the first apron, going above the second apron has serious roster-building drawbacks on top of the additional cost per dollar.

One way the Lakers can lower their tax bill is replacing Russell, who is expected to command a salary in the $20-million-range annually, with Chris Paul on a veteran’s minimum contract (approximately $3.0 million). But Paul being traded to the Washington Wizards, in a two-team trade that isn’t official yet and could expand to a third team, potentially complicates his future. The Clippers, whether via trade or free agency, are projected as a slight favorites to land Paul over the Lakers, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly.

This is the most likely outcome if the Lakers are committed to going all-in again, as they did ahead of the 2023 trade deadline.

3. Trade back in the draft and collect another asset
The distinction between options 2 and 3 is that the Lakers would retain a first-round pick in this scenario, though at the likely cost of a worse rotation player (perhaps Hield or O’Neale from the aforementioned names) or another draft asset (most likely a second-round pick). The framework of this deal would look like Beasley, Bamba and/or the No. 17 pick for a first-round pick in the 20s and another asset (player or pick).

Brooklyn (picks No. 21 and 22) and Indiana (pick No. 26) are two obvious trading partners with whom the Lakers have previously discussed multiple deals over the past year or so.

Through the years, the Lakers have identified multiple first-round steals in multiple drafts. Realistically, whoever the Lakers draft is an unsure bet to crack the rotation on a contending team. Trading back and recouping assets could be the most shrewd approach that toes the line between prioritizing the present and future.

4. Trade up in the draft
Trading up would be a bit of a zag, as the Lakers would be prioritizing the franchise’s future over the present one-to-two-year window of the James-Davis core unless they’re incredibly confident that said player can contribute right away. The framework of this deal would likely be Beasley, Bamba, the No. 17 pick and another asset — teams will ask for Christie too, though the Lakers aren’t interested in including him in any deals — in exchange for a lottery pick and matching salary that a team is trying to shed.

There are multiple reasons why a potential Lakers’ potential trade partner might be interested in trading down. They could be an over-the-cap team that views Beasley and/or Bamba as rotation-level players they can’t acquire in free-agency. They could have a rough long-term cap sheet and view this as a chance to force the Lakers to take back a contract they are trying to dump (either a long-term deal or an egregious contract). They could be interested in one of the Lakers’ future draft assets (a protected first, another second-round pick, etc.).

The advantage to trading up is locking in one of the prospects that the Lakers have coveted. Bufkin and Lively are two names to watch for, according to a team source not authorized to speak publicly about the Lakers’ draft board.

This is the least likely of the scenarios, but it’s certainly possible.

5. Draft a player at No. 17 … with plans to trade him later
The Lakers exhibited patience with the Russell Westbrook situation last season, waiting until they felt they had the perfect deal ahead of the trade deadline rather than moving him earlier in the season. They could do something similar with this pick, using the player they draft in a trade later in the summer or even during the season to upgrade the roster.

The Lakers could technically bring Bamba and Beasley into the season — with a temporarily expensive cap sheet — and then trade one or both in the middle of the year as different opportunities arise. They could also re-sign Russell and trade him closer to the trade deadline if a point guard upgrade is available or there is a lingering effect from Russell’s poor Western Conference finals performance.

This approach risks the pick’s trade value somewhat diminishing, since rival teams often prefer to trade for a pick on draft night and even make the selection themselves rather than taking another team’s choice. But a patient approach to their roster building could pay dividends once again.

 

[thasoleful1]

Buddy deal looking shaky.

Pacers went for future assets over moving up

 

[pmatic]

Pacers went for future assets over moving up

They can't realistically roster five rookies so makes sense to get a future first. But even now, they still have four picks which is probably one or two too many.

 

[lovehateself]

in rob we trust

 

[MVP]

Ugh if the Clippers get Brogdon, CP0 for sure on his way here.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Running it back won't get it done

 

[MVP]

Running it back won't get it done

Hopefully they'll see the light soon. Everybody loading up.

 

[sohi 23]

Cp3 isn’t coming unless he gets bought out.
Washington has no incentive to buy him out.
They can use his expiring contract to get picks at the deadline.

Maybe Cp gets bought out at the deadline but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

 

[pmatic]

Marcus Morris or Gallo on a buy-out though?

 

[Lizakers]

Hope CP isn’t our big move of the summer

He’s old flabby and sick
Hate that neck snapping flopper

 

[pmatic]

 

[DLF]

respect women owners man

 

[akajae]

 

[essential1]

There’s that and also what the Wolves did.

 

[Korofi]

I think you can pretty much put hassan in the blackballed category now. Teams dont want to gamble on someone who is 34 years old and labled a "headcase"

deandre jordan is in the league still for christ sake and we all know its not cuz of his ability.

 

[essential1]