D'Angelo Russell (Photo : Getty Images)
The Lakers have the tools to become a better team with a no.2 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and tons of cap space.
The front office needs to maximize this opportunity and trades should not be out of consideration.
ESPN Insider Chad Ford is known as one of the industry's experts on the draft as he claims that he's privy to the intention of NBA executives around the league. Not to say that he has always been accurate, as sometimes the executives love to throw a curveball or in some cases, really uncertain of what they're about to do until the last minute.
Ford had a list of "game-changing trades we'd like to see on draft day." Whether "we" would really like to see it remains subjective though, especially a trade he proposed between the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics that got two of the most rabid fan bases in the league totally perplexed.
The trade has the LA Lakers sending last year's 2nd overall pick D'Angelo Russell and 2013 lotto pick Julius Randle to the Celtics. In exchange, the Celtics give them the no.3 pick, no. 16 pick, Jonas Jerebko, Jordan Mickey and RJ Hunter.
This might seem like a head-scratcher as the notion for the Lakers is that they would trade their young core players for a veteran star. Here, they are being traded for draft picks and players with even less star potential. This is totally the opposite of the direction the Lakers, based on what they divulge, are headed.
Ford claims the Lakers are interested in other rookies, not just Brandon Ingram, specifically Kris Dunn and Marquese Chriss. The rationale is that the Lakers are disappointed with Russell as he "struggled early in the year and turned the locker room against him after the Nick Young incident." Russell has high draft value and other teams still recognize his potential. The idea is that Dunn could take his place (using the no.3 pick).
The Lakers have worked out other rookies like Skal Labissiere, Jaylen Brown and Buddy Hield. None of them would probably be there for the 16th pick, though.
For the Celtics, Ford points out that Russell could replace what Evan Turner brought to the table. That could hint of Turner leaving, but Boston does have Marcus Smart-which is why the trade was shot down by CSNNE in their video discussion.
They cite that point guard and power forward are the two positions that the Celtics have a logjam at, so trading for those positions seems unlikely. They also don't see why the Lakers would do it.
To clarify, these are not reported rumors but simply suggestions of Chad Ford based on what he is hearing around the league. Thus, even he would admit that this trade is unlikely to happen.
However, taking consideration of Ford's relatively reputable forecasts (better than the First Take duo or Chris Broussard, for instance), the motivations for suggesting these trades are intriguing.
