That will be L.A.’s lone selection. They have no second-round picks by virtue of the trade that brought Steve Nash to the Lakers. Nash’s former team, the Phoenix Suns, subsequently swapped that pick with the Minnesota Timberwolves, as reported by ESPN LA’s Larry Coon.
It might be tough for the Lakers to address all of their needs with a single pick, which is why they are open to acquiring more. Prior to the draft lottery, General manager Mitch Kupchak spoke to the Los Angeles Daily News’ Mark Medina:
We may look to get a pick some other way because we have guys we interviewed who aren’t going to be gone before the second round, but they’ll be around after (our current pick). You only get so many assets in this league. Draft picks are an asset. There’s cap room, draft picks and players. Those are assets you can use to rebuild a team.
That makes sense given another quote Kupchak provided to Medina: “We need to bring in players at every position, really.”
The Lakers only have three players with guaranteed contracts for next season, per Sham Sports. The rest are either free agents, have non-guaranteed deals or an option (team or player) allowing them to potentially return.
Considering that the Purple and Gold have next to nothing when it comes to surrounding Kobe Bryant and Nash with talent, they will have to plug some holes through the draft.
We will look at their needs, from the most to the least important, and which incoming players could help on that front.
Help on the Interior
Robert Sacre is the only frontcourt player under contract for the Lakers going into next year. His career averages of 13.3 minutes, 4.1 points and three rebounds per game probably won’t cut it ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
