Lakers Rumors: LA Would Be Foolish to Move Julius Randle for Eric Bledsoe

The Los Angeles Lakers may be keeping their head coaching vacancy open like it's a 24-7 Wal-Mart, but that isn't stopping the front office from making roster moves. The team's next potential move, though, could be the worst of the summer. 

According to Jordan Schultz of NBC Sports Radio, the Lakers are looking at a potential sign-and-trade deal that would net Eric Bledsoe:



If you watched the draft, the Lakers were lauded for landing Julius Randle with the seventh overall pick. Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix gave the team an "A" grade, thanks in large part to the Kentucky forward's natural offensive ability:

Randle fills a suddenly gaping hole at power forward (bye, Pau Gasol) and satisfies Kobe Bryant at the same time. The Kentucky freshman is close to NBA-ready; he could even start for a team that will be desperate for low-post offense. His power offensive game will make his defensive shortcomings easier to stomach for Lakers fans.

Despite making all sorts of moves this offseason, including acquiring Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin, it's hard to imagine the Lakers being a playoff team in the loaded Western Conference. They will be better than last year's 27-55 mark, but does it really matter if you win 40 games and miss the playoffs by five or six games?

If anything, that just hurts the Lakers, because it decreases their chances of getting a higher draft pick. 

Bledsoe is a solid player who's coming off of a career year at the age of 24 (17.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds per game), but is he really someone that you want to start building a team around? He certainly values himself highly, as any player coming off of his best season would. 

However, the Phoenix Suns, who know what Bledsoe brings to the table as well as anyone, don't think he's at a max level yet, according to ESPN's Chris Broussard:



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