Getty LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers guards Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Los Angeles Lakers now have zero picks in the 2019 NBA draft. The Lakers previously had the No. 4 pick but traded it as part of the Anthony Davis trade. L.A. also traded away two future first round picks in addition to their 2019 selection.
The Lakers second-round pick (No. 41) was traded to the Atlanta Hawks meaning they no longer have a selection in Thursday’s draft. Darius Garland was seen as the favorite to be the No. 4 pick prior to the Lakers trading away the pick. Now, the Lakers will have to figure out how to add a point guard since they also traded away Lonzo Ball. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne remarked about the amount of draft capital that the Lakers traded away to land Davis.
“Gonna be interesting to see the details on the Picks LA just gave NOLA. From what I understand the Pelicans didn’t want Lakers FRP next year. But through pick swaps they essentially have control of the Lakers draft for the next 7 years,” Shelburne tweeted.
Los Angeles is putting all their eggs in the free agency basket, and not just this summer. Prior to the deal, Davis’ agent Rich Paul insisted that Davis would be a free agent after the 2019-20 season no matter where he landed. The Lakers are already a heavy favorite to sign Davis to a long-term extension but there is still a bit of risk given it is not a done deal.
Given the Lakers have LeBron James, L.A. is clearly in win-now mode. For the Lakers to build a true contender around James and Davis, the team will need to perform much better in free agency than they have in past years.
The Pelicans Have an Opportunity to Swap Picks With the Lakers in Future Years
BREAKING: Anthony Davis is headed to the Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and 3 1st round picks, including No. 4 overall pick in 2019 draft, per @wojespn
The Pelicans will have an opportunity to swap picks with the Lakers for at least one of the picks, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. It is unclear whether there is a pick swap option available for both picks.
In addition, the language in the deal concerning the future first-round picks includes the possibility of a pick swap that could make the trade even more advantageous to the Pelicans, league sources said.
It is still unclear what the conditions are (if any) of the future picks the Lakers are trading to the Pelicans. We will continue to update this page on the future picks when more info becomes available. As Rich Eisen pointed out on Twitter, this trade is all about today and pairing Davis with an All-Star while he is still in his prime.
“Let’s be honest. LeBron has 2+1 left on his contract. He doesn’t want no stinkin’ rookies. Draft picks don’t mean squat. LBJ+AD+Kuzma is heckofa trio. And they erase “dumpster fire” narrative before July 1 free agency. @lakers and Pelinka nailed this. So did Pels,” Eisen tweeted.
