17 May 2017 16:37:57
1. Lakers cannot trade the pick. They have to draft THEN trade.
1a. IF they draft Ball, they are more than likely keeping the pick

2. Lakers will not trade Russell to move DOWN to the 3rd pick, even if it involves getting rid of Mozgov's deal.
2a. Mozgov's contract hold for the 2017-2018 season is 15M. They'll want to get rid of Deng first at 18M per
2b. Okafor plays ZERO defense, not worth trading DOWN + RUSSELL

3. If they trade anyone for anyone, it'll be for what Magic, Pelinka, Jeanie want:
-all star by 2018 all star game (Jeanie
-modern center (Pelinka)
-Paul George (Magic)
3a. How long do you keep a player who wants to be in another city? They'll want to trade George for what they can rather than have him bolt in 2018

4. Lakers have room for one max contract. Cap only increases by 1M in 2018-2019, the FA class Magic likes
4a. Trading for George now allows for 1) adding Dengs contract to the package which 2) clears space for 3) another slot to open up. If you add all this together, you get:

George as the all star Jeanie/Magic want for 2018, Magic adds the modern center Pelinka suggest in his favored FA class next year, Cousins. They're thinking George/Cousins combo for the future.

1.) 17 May 2017
17 May 2017 18:45:10
again why would we trade for paul george. He can come to us next year. Honestly be patient why would we give up young talent he can come to us in a year.

2.) 18 May 2017
17 May 2017 23:25:07
3736andrew: i already stated why to trade for George now.
it's not impatient. If you can land Paul George, you go for it. Ingram, Russell, Clarkson, Randle, Nance, Zubac. They're not all staying together. Take Russell and Clarkson or Russell and Randle. There's more than enough young talent left.
If they trade for him Lakers will have George's bird rights in 2018, allowing them to make a signing over the cap. They will be able to sign that max player in 2018 along with re-signing George.

You want this:
Ball/ Russell/ Ingram/ Randle/?
But where does George fit in? You say wait and add, so where will he be inserted at in this lineup? Center?