Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridg (Photo : REUTERS)
The Los Angeles Lakers will have three draft picks in this year's NBA Draft - including the no.2 overall pick they won in last Tuesday's lottery. However, general manager Mitch Kupchak thinks bringing in three rookies from the same draft class would be too much, leading everybody to speculate that a draft night trade is very much a possibility.
With the rights to select either Jahill Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns secured, the Lakers will have to think about what they are going to use with the 27th overall pick (the one acquired from the Houston Rockets in a Jeremy Lin trade) and their own second round pick at 34th overall.
In an interview with Bill Oram of the Orange County Register, the top man in the Lakers' front office didn't rule out the prospect of using the late first round and second round picks to trade up or acquire an established player available on the block.
Moreover, it seems Kupchak is also open in including the no.2 pick to any trade packages in attempt to acquire a bonifide All-Star such as LaMarcus Aldridge, who can be had via sign-and-trade deal.
It may be a little much to add three more young players," Kupchak told the Orange County Register last week. "There are options that you'd have and we'll just wait to see what happens."
"We know having a pick in the lottery is an asset," he said, "and with an asset like a pick you can use it to select a player, you could use it in combination with other picks to move up or down. You could trade it for an established player."
After missing the postseason for two consecutive seasons, the Lakers are determined to get back in playoff contention and give Kobe Bryant another crack at the title before he hangs his jersey for good. Okafor, Towns, and the rest of lottery pick prospects could become All-Star studs in the next 2 or 3 years, but the purple-and-gold will try to make a homerun now by landing an established star through their draft picks.
