I'd trade any of the picks to bring in Durant. I'd trade picks 2-3 for Barnes, Cousins, or Drummond. Ben Simmons would be tough for me to pass on without getting someone big time in return. I think he's gonna be really good.
My target would be Paul George first, but yeah I'd be more than willing to trade the pick for a big name. Not just because we'd get more proven talent, bu because we'd also have another 20 million or so dollars to spend afterwards to bring a friend if our new star wanted someone specific. If not? That's okay too. Ben Simmons would make a hell of a running mate with these young players. Seriously.
If you have a shot at Ben Simmons, you do NOT trade that pick. We're talking about a core of Russell/Simmons/Randle for the next 10 years or so....you don't give that up for anybody. Simmons WILL be an all world talent....and a top 10 player much sooner than ppl think.
If getting Kevin Durant here means trading that pick, even if it's number 1 overall, I'm doing it and not looking back 10 out of 10 times.
Why would Durant stay in LA? Trading that pick for him would be stupid without an assurance that he would re-sign with the Lakers.
Isn't anyone else concerned about Durant's recent injuries at all (foot last year, missed 6 games with hamstring already this year) ? I mean it seems like a no brainier to trade the # pick for him if we got it, but at the same time we are no where near a championship team right now, even if you add Durant. Does he really want to join a bunch of kids still learning at age 28? His window for winning a title is getting shorter. I feel like in that scenario draftin Simmons and having 4 or 5 guys on rookie deals that are that talented and can grow together, might be better for our situation. Those rookie deals allow us to have more money to spend on even better players to put around the youth. Obviously I wouldn't turn down Durant, but for the situation we are in, it's going to take time to get good again, and he wants a title now.
This scenario requires having a solid coaching staff .... unless our players are so talented they're going to develop and become great "on their own" 1) It's not easy to find 2) Our FO choices suck in this department
Draft Simmons and overhaul the coaching staff and we end up with a team like the Thunder in a couple of seasons. I know patience has completely worn out, but we could be sitting in a great position with the best young core in basketball if we landed that pick.
I mean we all had this discussions last season right? Same thing as always. Getting the pick is the important part... I have a feeling the FO would be more inclined to keep it than trade it away unless they got back a star SF like Durant or George. I mean let's say it worked the way we all want it to: Russell/ Clarkson/Lou Durant or George/Young Randle/Nance Jr. Whiteside/Black That's a completely feasible lineup. I'm not saying they'd be amazing right away, but they'd be a playoff team or sure. Then in a few years they'd be a truly great team.
I like him. I think he'd be a good fit with what we've got going on. Then again I was high on Stan Johnson and he's taking longer to get cooking than I expected.
I should have added that while I'd be hesitant to trade the #1 pick for Durant if we had it, I would not be hesitant to trade it for Paul George. He's only 25, couple years older than Clarkson, and he'd have plenty of time to grow next to our core. I'd trade that pick for George in a second, where I feel we may have already seen the best of Durant (and I don't see killer instinct in him) and that foot of his scares me.
Not to mention Paul George is a bona fide extraordinary two way player. Durant, while being an insane offensive talent, could never rival Paul George's defensive skill or dedication on that end. George is so balanced. Any team with him on it is stoked.
I have no idea why Indiana would make this deal unless George demanded out, but he's absolutely my #1 target. I'd be willing to give up the #1 pick for him, take on a bad contract, give up future assets. He's absolutely the first call I make. All this hometown stuff can be overblown, but George is from LA and he absolutely idolizes Kobe. He's said before as well that he'd love to play for the Lakers. Ben Simmons looks fantastic, but Paul George fits perfectly for what we need. Like @lakerjones said he's a two way player and like all of you have said injuries to Durant are a concern. Personally, I might still make that move even with Durant's injuries but to each their own. Either way it's at least exciting to think about a team next season with three starters set along with a handful of bench spots and over 60 million dollars to play with.
Oh I have no idea why Indiana would do it either. I thought we were just discussing dream scenarios, I don't think we're getting the #1 pick either, dream scenario. Hell I don't think we're getting pick 1, 2, or 3, for me this is a pointless tank. But hey, the point of this thread is "what if", right?
