Lakers Rumors: Analyzing DeMarcus Cousins Trade Talk, Draft Outlook

The Los Angeles Lakers roster is going to look different by the end of Thursday night. Exactly how much it will be overhauled depends on whether the front office decides to aggressively pursue a trade for Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins.

As of now, the Lakers own three picks in the 2015 NBA draft (Nos. 2, 27 and 34). They could simply stand pat, choose a potential franchise cornerstone with the second overall selection and then take advantage of the class' depth with the latter picks.

Or general manager Mitch Kupchak and Co. can try to accelerate the rebuilding effort by attempting to acquire Cousins. The 24-year-old center ranked ninth in the NBA in player efficiency rating last season, via ESPN.com, and is just heading into his prime.

That option would cost Los Angeles several of the assets it has accumulated, though.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports explained the Lakers and Kings at least discussed the framework of a possible trade, and Sacramento's asking price is predictably sky-high:

Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac has pursued a possible deal that would include a bevy of assets, including the Lakers' No. 2 pick in Thursday's NBA draft, rookies Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson and other draft assets, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Sacramento also would want to unload the remainder of forward Carl Landry's two years, $13.5 million contract, league sources said.

Even with the understanding Cousins wouldn't come cheap, that's an eye-popping amount of young talent to give up and essentially amounts to the Lakers going all in on the Kentucky product. Taking on Landry's contract, further decreasing their offseason flexibility, can't be overlooked, either.

If the Kings don't budge off any of those requests, it seems more likely Los Angeles will just maintain its current rebuilding course.



Even if the Lakers keep the...

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