2019 Draft Class

Honestly the 2nds I don't care about. What I would like is to dump the 3 kids not named Kuzma still on the roster. That'd clear us enough space to basically have a max slot regardless of when the trade is processed. It also wouldn't have any impact on ATL or NO for their Summer League rosters anymore either. Everybody wins.

 

Except Griffin has been an all-in type of guy for a while. He has made trades in the offseason and during the season to get his teams a better shot at a title, win-now moves Ainge has always been afraid to make. I’m not knocking Rob, I’m saying his inexperience is clearly showing here, and Griffin’s experience is on display. A more seasoned GM probably gets the AD deal done still, but also probably doesn’t have to add multiple pick swaps, and negotiates the July 30th hold off date beforehand. A more seasoned GM goes out and turns the 4th pick into dumping Solomon Hill, the 8th, 17th and 35th in a draft where talent is pretty spread out and up in the air after pick 3. I doubt Rob gets that move done at this point in his career, that’s why they gave the Pelicans the 4th and said get what you can for it. He can learn from this though, and he should be taking notes.

 

McMenamin on SC right now, said the Lakers are going to try to engage Atlanta to try and make this a 3 team deal, try to get them to take the guys we know we need to, he said we are going to (not going to try to, going to) buy into the 2nd round, and then of course look at undrafted guys as camp invites.

 

Easy now fellas. This was always the plan. Dump the three kids. Try to get some second rounders. Nice and easy. We got time.

 

Keep in mind, we don't HAVE to trade the guys to ATL. We can trade them anywhere and just complete the deals separately. It would just be more convenient to get it done with ATL.

 

Marks or someone said like yesterday we need to trade them all to one team for it to free up the space we need though. Adding them to this would make the most sense because we have no “sweeteners” to give any other teams, no incentive for them to take on Wagner, Bonga and JJ. If they’re added to this it’s just expanding on an existing trade. Still feels like a long shot, but I remain confident we will find a way to get that 3rd max slot.

 

Yeah I think I'm wrong actually. I think you do technically need it to be a three teamer to get us 32.5 million, but we can get to 30 or 31 million just by dumping the guys so we're almost splitting hairs.

But the point is, we're okay. Things are going to take their time happening. It's up to Laker fans to enjoy this ride. In the end, worst case scenario, we still have LeBron James and Anthony Davis. We should all be nervously/excitedly munching some popcorn and watching the show.