It all started with the veto of the Chris Paul trade in 2011 that left the Lakers in desperate need of a point guard. The next summer the Lakers made a trade with the Suns for Steve Nash in exchange for first round draft picks in 2013 and 2015 as well as second round draft picks in 2013 and 2014. The Suns used the 2013 first round pick that turned out to be the 30th pick on Nemanja Nedovic who played only 24 games and the second round pick was Alex Oriakhi….not much to see here. In 2014 the Suns used the second round pick on Johnny O'Bryant III…. Nothing any Laker fan is regretting right now. In 2015 the pick was top 5 protected which put the Lakers in a position where if the pick landed in the top 5 in the lottery the Lakers got to keep it. Lakers had the 4th worst record and ended up with the 2nd pick and drafted D’Angelo Russell.
The pick transferred to the 2016 draft and became top 3 protected. The Lakers tanked for the 2nd worst record and got the 2nd pick again and drafted Brandon Ingram.
Prior to the draft the Suns traded that pick to the 76ers so if it fell outside of the top 3 it would have went to them. That caused the pick to transfer to the next draft. Once again the Lakers got the 2nd pick for the 3rd straight year and in 2017 and they drafted Lonzo Ball. A true pass first point guard they were looking for in the first place back in 2011.
Prior to the draft the Lakers used D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov as trade assets to create salary cap flexibility. In return the Lakers received Brook Lopez who was on an expiring contract and the 27th pick which was used on Kyle Kuzma.
That 2015 first round pick the Lakers traded to the Suns in 2012 now transferred to the 76ers who on Monday landed at the 10th pick...6 years later. At this point the Lakers have built a young core through the draft just like Golden State has while creating cap space to pursue star veterans in free agency and the Suns finally found luck and landed the number 1 pick in this upcoming draft. All of this was 6 years in the making.
