Lakers Rumors: Latest Rumblings on Lonzo Ball, Julius Randle, 2017 Draft Plans

This time the positive undertones to the Los Angeles Lakers' offseason don't feel like a facade. 

They certainly did in past years, where the good fortunes of top picks in drafts were dampened by the realization the organization still had to free itself of the Kobe Bryant era and the fact the name brand alone wasn't enough to lure top free agents to town anymore.

Nor was a single top-five pick going to reverse the fortunes of the franchise overnight. But now the Lakers have a budding young core of top prospects after the front office stuck with the current rebuilding plan and, unlike prior years, it seems the right prospect in the 2017 NBA draft could finally help right the ship.

Given the situation and the Lakers landing the second pick in the draft, the rumor mill has come alight with various angles worth examining.

Lonzo or Other?

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

The Lakers sure picked a great time to hold a top-three pick thanks to a class featuring elite talent at point guard—a point made all the sweeter because there was an outside chance the team could've lost the pick outright.

Conventional wisdom suggests the Lakers will take UCLA's Lonzo Ball. Some probably want to see this simply for the entertainment factor that would be Lonzo's father, LaVar, making constant headlines in the major market.

But Lonzo on his own is worth the second pick and is a great fit, provided the Lakers concur.

And they might not, as Draft Express' Jonathan Givony pointed out:

Call it quite the interesting development seeing as Ball and De'Aaron Fox are essentially completely different prospects.

Ball, 6'5" and 195 pounds, is a pass-first guard who has unrivaled court vision and an ability to get his teammates involved. He isn't the best shooter and won't blow anyone away with his athleticism, but he's a guy who can run an entire offense as a rookie.

Fox, on the other hand, is 6'3" and 169 pounds and will remind many of other past elite Kentucky point prospects—he's a jaw-dropping athlete and can get around or past anyone on his way to the hoop, yet he struggles to shoot with consistency.

The Lakers can't go wrong either way depending on what the front office wants to do with the roster. It's easy to presume the team will get both guys in for workouts at some point and be able to compare the prospects as Givony says the coaches would like. 

Open to Trades?

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

As hinted above, though, what style of point the Lakers take with the second pick might come down to whether they decide to make moves via trade or not.

It should go without saying, but the Lakers would love to move a guy like Timofey Mozgov or even Luol Deng. The former received a gift of a $64 million contract before the front office received a shakeup and didn't do much with it other than weigh down the cap space, while the latter served as a vital leader but stopped Brandon Ingram from seeing the court consistently.

But don't forget D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle. So says a rumbling from NBA.com's Sam Smith: "The Lakers also would love to dump one of those big contracts that resulted in a management change. The talk among general managers is you can pretty easily get D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle."

It's hard to imagine the Lakers deal a budding core piece like Russell or Randle now after sticking to the rebuilding plan for so long. Unless an offer for a guy like Paul George comes around, the Lakers will want to stick with their young core and try to move bad contracts. Other rebuilding teams won't mind taking a pick while inhaling the contract on a guy like Mozgov.

The only realistic trade that could entice the Lakers to send away Russell or Randle is George, but the Indiana Pacers star just missed out on all-NBA teams, meaning the Pacers can't offer him more money than another other locale. He wants to win titles and hails from California, so the Lakers should probably feel like they have a great shot at him in free agency after next season.

Granted, the Pacers would love to have one of, it not both of those core pieces if they ship away George. But it all comes down to how patient the Lakers want to be, and so far, the approach has been willing to wait it out.

Teams Targeting Russell

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As hinted, these Lakers truly feel like a team one piece away from finally turning things around.

But that won't stop other teams from looking at the situation and making calls about trades.

According to Sports Illustrated's Jake Fischer, teams saw the Lakers land the second pick and started crafting offers: "With the Los Angeles Lakers coming away with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft following Tuesday night’s lottery, multiple NBA teams are evaluating trade packages for D’Angelo Russell, league sources told SI.com."

On one hand, forming offers in the hopes of getting a player like Russell because the Lakers might take another point guard isn't a bad idea. On the other, it's misguided—Russell played some of his best ball last year at the 2 and might make a full change depending on which rookie comes to town.

Russell averaged 15.6 points on 40.5 percent shooting last year and is 6'5", so it's not like he's undersized or hasn't shown flashes. His player efficiency rating (PER) jumped to 15.36 as well, according to ESPN.com, so letting him slide over and letting a pass-first guard like Ball run the offense could work major wonders.

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This is a similar story for Randle. He's been an obvious trade target for years, but he's done nothing but improve after missing all but 14 minutes of his rookie year. Last season, at all of 22 years old, he averaged 13.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game on a career high 48.7 percent shooting from the floor with a career-best 16.32 PER. Add a pass-first point guard and he should keep on the same upward trajectory.

A team as loaded with high-end prospects like the Lakers will have plenty of offers before the draft. Russell seems like the most sought-after target, but in today's point-guard heavy league that emphasizes the floor spacing with the three ball, the Lakers might be better off in the long run slotting an elite passer and quality shooter like Ball next to a scorer like Russell.

A rookie point, Russell, Ingram and Randle all learning together for a year before a serious pursuit of a star like George seems like the best end game for the Lakers. Even getting George early isn't the most attractive option in the world given the verifiable proof young prospects keep developing well.

As always, that doesn't mean teams will stop trying to pry players away from the Lakers—which should tell them and fans about the trajectory of the current rebuild.

All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.