Lakers will trade Randle, Young, Clarkson, plus future pick to Sacramento for Cousins and Seth Curry. ESPN's Marc Stein is reporting Kings are "heavily engaged" in talks with the Lakers in a potential blockbuster trade that would send Cousins to L.A.
Wishful thinking but you never know. I think the Lakers are pursuing Cousins hard. Based on the roster below, the Lakers would have a solid mix of veteran leaders and youngsters while building a roster that can play the brand of ball Luke Walton is envisioning.
Can this young core of Lakers carry the team into the next era? " We like this young Laker core, yes," said Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak. "It doesn't mean we're not going to pursue some veteran leadership. When July 1st [free agency] rolls around, I think we will. I think historically, history tells you that a bunch of young guys on the team is probably not a good thing. They look around for leadership or they look around for advice from somebody who's been through this a couple times, and if there's nobody to talk to, well, you don't know how to handle the situation. So I think we will look to add some veteran leadership and hopefully it's not only leadership but guys who can help us win games."
Your 2016-17 Los Angeles Lakers at a glance...
Starters
PG: D’Angelo Russell $5.3 mil
SG: DeMar DeRozan $26 mil
SF: Brandon Ingram $5.3 mil
PF: Larry Nance Jr. $1.2 mil
C: Demarcus Cousins $15.8 mil
Bench
C: Ivica Zubac $1.2 mil
PF: David Lee $6.3 mil
SG: Lou Williams $7.0 mil
PG: Seth Curry $1.0 mil
SF: Harrison Barnes $13 mil
SF: Anthony Brown $850,000
PG: Marcelo Huertas $1.0 mil
PF: Tarik Black $1.0 mil
Total Salaries: $84.95 million (90% of $94 million salary cap)