The Los Angeles Lakers are still trying to figure out what to do with the second overall pick, and many think they’ll simply look to draft Brandon Ingram from Duke or Benjamin Simmons out of LSU. Just yesterday, the Philadelphia 76ers revealed that they will explore trade options for either Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel, and that raises some new possibilities. Would the Lakers really trade away their top NBA Draft pick for Okafor?
On Friday, it was revealed that the 76ers have just had way too many high draft picks in the past few years and far too many big men available. They have been taken the best players on the board, and they’re expected to do that with the number one overall this year, and it’s going to be either Ingram or Simmons.
The problem is that they have too many similar players in the same place, and it’s only to get more crowded this year.
As reported by ESPN , the Sixers are going to start exploring trades for either Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor to see which one would garner a better trade offer. Well, one trade scenario was thrown at ESPN’s NBA guru Chad Ford, and it involves the Lakers and Sixers making a deal.
As it stands, the 76ers are picking first overall in next month’s draft and poised to take Simmons or Ingram. Whichever player they select, the Lakers are then very likely to take the other, but that’s if things stay as they currently are.
With the news coming out that Noel and Okafor are on the trading block, rumors are starting to swirl.
They might. They loved Okafor last year. That’s a high price for Philly though. – @chadfordinsider https://t.co/hY7Dio7Zpt
— ESPN Insider (@ESPNInsider) May 27, 2016
Ford is responding to the question that the Lakers would send their second overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft to the 76ers for Jahlil Okafor and Philly’s 2017 pick. As seen by his response, Ford thinks it is a bit too high a price for the 76ers to pay, but it’s not out of the possibility since the Lakers reportedly “loved” Okafor last year when the draft was approaching.
Silver Screen and Rollbelieves that the Lakers would have to do a lot of thinking if this scenariopresented itself to them. First of all, general manager Mitch Kupchak would have to somehow figure out if Okafor and the 2017 pick would be more valuable than Simmons or Ingram.
The next big thing to look at is Julius Randle and who will fit in better with him – Ingram, Simmons, or Okafor. Philadelphia’s problem is that they have far too many similar players in the lane, and partnering up Okafor and Randle means that problem would move out to Los Angeles.
If a deal like this were to happen, it’s one that would be absolutely huge and easily considered a “blockbuster,” but it doesn’t have a lot of strength behind it. The 76ers may truly just want to sit still and make their number one overall pick and see what they can get for Okafor or Noel.
No matter what Kupchak says about keeping the second pick now, the Lakers are going to listen to offers. It’s all a matter of the right deal making its way onto his desk.
Trading for Jahlil Okafor would mean the LA Lakers getting a player they coveted last season and were really hoping to land. The fact that the Philadelphia 76ers are making him available in trade discussions means that the possibility is there, but is it a good idea for Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers to pull the trigger? It seems hard to imagine that Philly would take the deal, but stranger things have happened.
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