The LA Lakers are coming into the offseason after a terrible 2013-14 and the team is looking to turn things around quickly and some targets for the summer potentially include a Ricky Rubio or Kyrie Irving trade proposal as well as Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Lance Stephenson or Luol Deng in free agency to give Kobe Bryant support as he comes back from multiple injuries.
The Lakers have a top 10 draft pick for the first time in a while and they can use that to trade and get extra picks or they could sit tight and select a player at number seven and chances are that player will be talented. This draft has a number of strong prospects in the top 10 and while the team will be out of the running for Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins, players like Nik Stauskas, Julius Randle and Marcus Smart all could be there when the team picks.
The Lakers are also looking to sign free agents and while they want to trade for Kevin Love, the team may go another way for now and names like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving Trade, Lance Stephenson and Luol Deng are potential targets. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Lakers are trying to position themselves as a destination for James and they may allow him to pick the next head coach. Kobe needs help and the team has money and that makes Stephenson an option, while Rubio could get dealt if the Timberwolves blow everything up. The team got rid of Mike D'Antoni and now they have to watch Phil Jackson work his magic with the Knicks as well.
The Lakers are coming off of a terrible season that saw Kobe Bryant spend most of the schedule on the sidelines and now they are looking for a way to bounce back quickly. The team has a top 10 draft pick this year and with all the talent in the class, they should be able to get a very good player. The team could even sneak in and draft Joel Embiid, as he could slip after needed foot surgery. Embiid not throws the top five into some disarray, as the Cavaliers, Bucks and Sixers all could have gotten at least one of the top three players, but with Embiid likely dropping, the battle will be for Wiggins and Parker.
The Lakers come into the offseason after winning just 27 games and they averaged 103 points per game, but ranked 29th in team defense and they need to get better now. The team is allowing the coaching search to take longer than expected, as they think they can land a free agent with a later pick and one report has the team hoping LeBron James will want some input and will sign with the team, but that is a pipe dream. The Lakers would love to trade for Kevin Love, but they don't have the pieces to do it and heading into next season they could bring back Nick Young after he played well for the team and led them in scoring.
