The Lakers look set to reportedly keep the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, choosing not to trade their first round draft pick.
After much messaging otherwise in the months leading up to the 2024 NBA Draft, the Lakers look set to keep their No. 17 overall pick in Wednesday’s first round. Vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka signaled this on Monday at JJ Redick’s introductory press conference, and the reporting is now following suit.
On Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski reported on ESPN’s draft preview show that the Lakers intend to keep their pick and will not trade it.
The Lakers plan to keep the No. 17 overall pick instead of trade it, per @wojespn.
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 26, 2024
Some prospects within the mid-first could potentially crack Los Angeles’ rotation next season. pic.twitter.com/PzHyuxGKvc
At the trade deadline, the messaging from Pelinka was that at least part of the reasoning for not making a deal was so they could swing big in the offseason. However, priorities changed at some point along the way and the Lakers changed their approach.
As mentioned, Monday really showed the team’s approach to the deadline as Pelinka explained the team’s rationale behind whether they would make a trade. With the new rules regarding teams in the luxury tax and first and second aprons, the restrictions will limit trades for the Lakers and other teams in the league.
“The trades are less prevalent than they used to be,” Pelinka said. “Will we look for trades that help us become a better team? Absolutely. Do [those trades] have the same probability as they did in the old system? No. It’s a new system. And I do think, as I stated at the beginning, part of the road to a really, really good team – and you can look around the landscape of the league right now with many young teams doing really, really well – is going to be to lean hard into that player development piece.
“Of course, part of that is to drafting the right way. We’ve had a great track record here of drafting good players here and developing them and we’re going to continue on that path as well. That’s not a yes or a no. If the perfect trade comes along and we can use picks to make it and win a championship, yeah, we’ll do it. Is that trade going to be there? I don’t know. It’s harder in this system to find perfect trades.”
That certainly does not sound like someone ready to make a big trade. The reasoning isn’t bad. Building out a roster with three stars was hard before. Doing so with all the added restrictions placed on first and second apron teams would be nearly impossible.
Which means the Lakers will likely add at least one rookie this summer, if not two, with their No. 17 and No. 55 draft picks.
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