With the Los Angeles Lakers currently sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, the storied franchise will likely be headed toward a high draft pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
During an interview Rick Fox and Jared Greenberg on SiriusXM NBA Radio, GM Mitch Kupchak talked about the immediate future of the team and the draft. Kupchak admitted that a high draft pick is on the way according to Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times:
“The franchise is going to attract players,” he continued. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have a good draft pick this year. We’ll get a good player there.”
Not since 2005 have the Lakers had a high draft with the team taking Andrew Bynum with the 10th pick in the draft. Obviously, the franchise that has won 16 NBA titles isn’t partial to using the draft to become a title contender, but at this point the team has no choice in the matter.
Fortunately, along with a potentially high pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Lakers will have a considerable amount of cap space available this summer. It remains uncertain at this point in time which star players will become available to the highest bidder this summer, but the Lakers will definitely be in the running to sign one or two potential game-changers in free agency.
LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh could potentially become available this summer, but there’s still be no indication if any one of the four mentioned will opt-out.
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