The big obstacle getting in the way of the Los Angeles Lakers landing a 3-and-D wing via trade over the next few weeks is their lack of tradable assets. Not only do they lack players who have perceived value on the open market, but they also only have one future first-round draft pick they’re allowed to trade right now, per NBA rules.
The league’s “Stepien rule” prevents teams from trading away future first-round picks in consecutive years. Therefore, the Lakers can only trade either their 2031 or 2032 first-rounder between now and the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
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But according to Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo! Sports NBA, they’re trying a smart approach as far as giving themselves more tradable first-round picks. Los Angeles is reportedly looking to swap one of its current tradable first-rounders for multiple first-round picks it could then use in another trade.
“Here’s what I’m hearing about the Lakers. With the Lakers, the word on the street is they’re trying to package Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent together for a wing. Now, the really interesting thing with them is, they’ve been shopping around their future 2032 first-round pick for multiple first-round draft picks. Similar to what the [Phoenix] Suns did a year ago when they traded their 2031 pick to the Jazz for three lesser firsts in ’25, ’27 and ’29. So it seems like the Lakers are looking for two or three firsts that are worse individually than their future first, giving them more parts to put together in like Vincent plus Vanderbilt, or Vincent plus [Maxi] Kleber types of packages. The Lakers are definitely looking for a wing, I think they definitely have interest in Herb Jones, probably too pricey, Trey Murphy, [Jonathan] Kuminga maybe. Maybe the [Golden State] Warriors as a third team, maybe we’re gonna see a situation where Kuminga gets sent to the Lakers for filler plus a pick, then the Warriors send that pick plus other assets to go get a PJ (Washington) or Trey Murphy or something like that. But that’s my understanding right now of what the Lakers are angling to do with their future picks and with the guys on the existing roster.”
Pulling off such a deal could instantly increase the chances of L.A. landing a two-way wing such as Jones or even Kuminga, given how valuable future draft picks can be seen around the league.
The consensus opinion is that the team is one or two 3-and-D wings away from being, at worst, close to a championship contender. It currently has a 24-14 record and is in fifth place in the Western Conference, and it has lost 10 of its last 19 games.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers looking to acquire multiple first-round draft picks