Not to generalize for the entire group of supporters, of course.
Nonetheless, general manager Mitch Kupchak has gone on record as saying that he's willing to trade L.A.'s lottery pick, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reported on Twitter:
Is this really surprising?
The Lakers don't build through the draft; they reload through free agency and trades, relying on the appeal of the franchise and the storied history behind the Purple and Gold. That appeal doesn't exactly help during the selection process, though.
If you look back through the Lakers' draft history, you'll find a rather threadbare list of players.
The last time LAL took a first-round player was in 2009, when it drafted Toney Douglas at No. 29 and immediately traded him to the New York Knicks for cash and a future second-round pick. Before that, it was Javaris Crittenton, who was picked at No. 19 in 2007 and traded 22 games into his rookie season.
But this isn't just a first-round pick; it's a lottery selection.
Andrew Bynum was the last player selected by the Lakers in the first 14 picks of an NBA draft, as he was taken at No. 10 in the 2005 proceedings. And before that, Eddie Jones was the 10th pick back in 1994.
Yes, the Lakers went over a decade in between lottery picks. What makes you think they couldn't do it again?
But let's dig deeper still.
Neither Bynum nor Jones was selected with a single-digit pick. Kobe Bryant, for that matter, wasn't either, because he was picked at No. 13 by the Charlotte Hornets and immediate...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
