It has to be tough to watch the Eastern Conference finals for the Los Angeles Lakers’ brass. While they are mired in a rebuilding campaign that has lasted longer than anyone in the organization is comfortable with, their rivals in Boston are playing in a second straight Eastern Conference finals during what was supposed to be their rebuilding stretch under Brad Stevens. The Lakers and Celtics, the NBA’s leaders in all-time titles won, measure themselves against each other, even when they’re not on the same level on the court.
That might be why the Lakers are making it clear ahead of next month’s draft that no one on the roster is “untouchable” as Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka continue the heavy lifting in remaking the roster and trying to do in the rugged Western Conference what the Celtics have done in the East the past two seasons. It could make for an interesting time for some of the talented youngsters the Lakers already have in the fold. Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times explains:
To be clear, the Lakers are not actively shopping any of their players. They are willing to listen to offers and could move one of them — even a member of the talented young cadre of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram or Josh Hart — if an offer blows them away.
Publicly the Lakers have remained mum on the subject. When Magic Johnson, president of basketball operations, was asked during a news conference in April whether he would consider trading any of his young core this summer, Johnson declined to entertain the question.
Since a regime change in the spring of 2017, the Lakers have worked to position themselves to have the option to be major players in the free-agency periods of this summer and 2019.
Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka made clear they were planning to save salary cap space for two summers that will have talented free-agent classes. LeBron James and Paul George are expected to be free agents this summer, while next year’s class could include Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker and Klay Thompson.
Leonard might be available this summer if the Spurs choose to trade him. The All-Star forward played in only nine games this season while recovering from a right quad injury, leading to tension between him and the team. There are those around the league who believe the Lakers would be his preferred destination.
In order to keep their salary cap flexible, the Lakers refused to offer any multiyear contracts to free agents last summer. They focused on one-year deals in free agency (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) and acquiring expiring contracts in trades (Brook Lopez, Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye).
* * *
