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NBA Rumors: Lakers trade 2019 second rounder for No. 39 pick in 2018 NBA Draft

The Lakers are reportedly adding an extra second rounder in the 2018 NBA Draft, which might mean they really like a few players.

2017 Las Vegas Summer League - Los Angeles Clippers v Los Angeles Lakers Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The Los Angeles Lakers have traded a 2019 second round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the No. 39 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Wojnarowski, the pick the Lakers are sending out is the Chicago Bulls’ second rounder, and the team will also send cash considerations to Philadelphia.

There have been plenty of rumors about the Lakers liking various players throughout the draft process, although most of those prospects have been concentrated towards the back end of the first round and are even less likely to be available with the No. 39 pick.

This could mean a few things. On one hand, there is a chance that there is someone in the second round that the Lakers really like and they’re willing to (literally) put their money where their mouth is in order to grab, or this could be an effort by the Lakers to leverage their spending power to move up in the first round, a theory postulated by Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer:

Another option? This could mean that the Lakers think that Mitchell Robinson, who they’ve often been rumored to have interest in, could fall into this range:

This could also mean none of those things. The Lakers have done a phenomenal job putting out tons of misinformation throughout this draft process, something that could easily obscure their actual intentions and allow them to come away with a player they actually want, either with the No. 39 pick, or the No. 25 or No. 47 ones. Maybe even with a combination of the three.

Nothing will be set in stone until the draft on Thursday, but this seems like it could be the start of an avalanche of draft movement for the league.

You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.

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