Lakers Rumors: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Interested LA; Thunder Not Interested in Trade

It's important to have dreams.

When they were examining all of their options and devising ways to strengthen their squad in a major way, the Los Angeles Lakers apparently threw out a surprising name: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported on The Ringer's Real Ones podcast (via Silver Screen & Roll) the Lakers thought SGA might be attainable if the Oklahoma City Thunder "completely tank." He dismissed the idea as a "dream" for Los Angeles.

"Don’t get too excited. It’s not happening," Amick said. "I wrote something about it a couple of weeks ago and, boy, did I hear about it from the Thunder."

In November, Amick spoke to an NBA front-office executive who said, "You keep hearing that Shai is frustrated with the losing." Because of that, the 24-year-old may not be untouchable in the event the Thunder reset the clock on their rebuild.

Gilgeous-Alexander is only in the first year of the five-year, $179.3 million extension he signed with Oklahoma City, and the team is just 1.5 games out of the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.

Sure, the Thunder could command a king's ransom for the dynamic guard, who's averaging 31.3 points, 6.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, but it's hard to see why they would want to do that.

The notion is even more of a long shot when you add the Lakers to the equation because they don't have the assets to make a straight-up swap. Two first-round picks, Russell Westbrook and whatever else won't get it done for a player with Gilgeous-Alexander's age, production and contract situation.

Bleacher Report's Dan Favale included SGA among the group he dismissed as candidates when rumors surfaced the Lakers were targeting an unnamed mystery star:

"Consider this your bi-hourly reminder that Gilgeous-Alexander, who currently ranks as one of the seven top MVP candidates, is the Thunder's timeline and shouldn't be up for grabs. It also wouldn't matter if he was, because OKC could get so much more for him than what the Lakers can currently peddle."

Maybe Gilgeous-Alexander will return to L.A. and don purple and gold at some point down the road. But it won't be anytime soon.