Its been three years since the LA Lakers made their last appearance in the playoffs and that year they barely made the final eight in the Western Conference. With Kobe Bryant now retired and plenty of good young talent on the roster, things could turn around with a good summer.
It will start with the second overall pick later this month and the hops of the fans is Philadelphia will pass on Ben Simmons, but most experts believe that won’t happen and the ‘Purple and Gold’ will get Brandon Ingram from Duke, not a bad pick, especially with the team having struggled to find a decent scoring option at small forward for the last decade.
Round two is where the drama will begin as the front office needs to get this pick right for a quicker rebuilding job. The latest mock from CBS Sports has the franchise looking at Diamond Stone from Maryland. The 6’10” youngster has the size to play down low in the NBA with his 255 pound frame, but he needs to work on his quickness when running the floor to become a threat on both ends of the court.
Plenty of rumors on Twitter have the team possibly trading away both picks for a star player. Speculation of a deal with Chicago to land Jimmy Butler has buzzed around social media for the last month, but trading two picks and one of the young guns on the squad seems a step backwards for a franchise that has struggled to win basketball games.
While it won’t be easy, management and the fans need to show some patience as the team now has the salary cap room to add some solid help through free agency and that along with two draft picks this summer and this franchise could finally be back on the upswing.
