The Lakers will be involved in the second round of the draft on Wednesday after all.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Lakers have traded for the No. 56 pick in the draft, sending the Bulls cash considerations in exchange.
Buying second round picks has become a fairly regular occurrence for the Lakers in recent years. In 2022, they bought the No. 35 pick to eventually draft Max Christie. Last season, they traded the No. 55 pick with cash, then traded up a second time to secure the No. 36 pick and select Adou Thiero.
That latter trade could come up again this season. Getting a foot in the door with a second round pick is the first step and now the front office and ownership can start moving up the draft if a player they value is still on the board.
According to NBA beat writer Jake Fischer, it looks like the Lakers will try to repeat that sequence again this year.
The Lakers are flexing their financial muscle this year, trading cash to the Knicks to move up one spot from the No. 25 pick to the No. 24 pick. There is a finite amount of money a team can trade in each league year, but the figures involved in LA’s trade with the Knicks on Tuesday, or in this trade, are not known, so it’s unclear how much money they have left to offer.
Still, this is the benefit of having an owner in Mark Walter who is willing to spend. If the team has money to spend, there’s no upside to not spending it. The Lakers are a team in need of athleticism and young talent and they’re using money to move up in the draft and acquire players.
The Lakers still have an obvious need at center. Teams also can never have too many wings and the Lakers still need some athleticism even after selecting Cameron Carr in the first round.
It’s always hard to project how things will play in the second round of the draft, so it’ll be hard to know who might be available with the No. 56 pick. But don’t be surprised if this is the first of a couple of deals for the Lakers on the night.
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