EL SEGUNDO HERALD May 26, 2016 Page 5 Should They Stay or Should They Trade? By Adam Serrao The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off of their worst season in franchise history. That much is already known. People in L.A., however, are tired of hearing about how bad the team is and the string of bad “After walking away from the lottery with the second pick in this year’s NBA draft, the Lakers now have options and sit in a pretty nice position.” luck that the team has run into in the last six years or so. The NBA draft lottery held last Tuesday afternoon at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York may have been just the thing that Lakers fans have been looking for. After walking away from the lottery with the second pick in this year’s NBA draft, the Lakers now have options and sit in a pretty nice position. Should Los Angeles take who ever falls to them at the No. 2 pick, though? Or should the Lakers brass trade the pick for a veteran player that can help the team win now? After finishing with the league’s second worst record last season, the Lakers maintained the second pick in this year’s NBA draft. There was much fear floating about that L.A. might fall out of the Top 3 in the lottery, in which case, their pick would have been forfeited to the Philadelphia 76ers. “After winning only 17 games, to then have lost the pick would have been brutal,” Lakers publicist John Black said immediately following the lottery. It would certainly have been brutal for the Lakers, but imagine that for Philadelphia? Two of the Top 5 picks in this year’s draft. Well, there is no need to imagine any longer. The Lakers kept their pick and now it’s all about deciding what to do with it. There has been much talk lately that the rumor floating around the NBA is that the Lakers are going to shop their pick. In doing so, they will be giving up a chance to keep a Top 2 talent, and mortgaging that chance in order to take in a veteran that they would hope could contribute immediately. One of the veterans whose name has been most bandied about is Paul George, currently of the Indiana Pacers. Another is Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls. Theoretically, the Lakers could take the No. 2 pick that they just earned in this year’s draft and either trade it to Indiana for George or to Chicago for Butler. Who knows, there may even be another team out there who would be willing to part with their superstar for the pick, too. No matter who is available in the trade market, however, (unless it’s a Top 5 player in the league, obviously) the Lakers should absolutely not trade their pick for a veteran. While George and Butler could bring immediate proven talent to the Lakers and perhaps put the team on the map again, both players have been injured in their careers and with injury comes the risk of yet another injury. In George’s case, the star small forward is coming off of a devastating and gruesome broken leg. He rebounded nicely last season to lead his Pacers team to the playoffs while averaging 23 points and six rebounds per game, but in a weak Eastern Conference, those points are almost to be expected from a player of his caliber. Likewise, Butler has had a multitude of knee issues that have caused him to miss time in the past, as the Bulls shooting guard has continued to average right around 20 points and five rebounds per game. Mortgaging the future for a player of George’s or Butler’s caliber would serve to benefit the team for only the two or three year’s (barring another injury setback) that remain in those players respective primes. To trade an 18-19 year-old future star that will come into the NBA and fit together with the timeline that the Lakers already have in place would simply be foolish. Sure, a veteran of George’s ilk would improve the team by 10 to maybe 15 wins per season. In the Eastern Conference, those numbers are drastic. In the West, however, that’s barely a blip on the radar. Paul George on the Lakers may not even get the team to the playoffs. Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, however, would accelerate the Lakers rebuilding process and fit in perfectly with a young team who just hired a young coach that will most certainly be competing in the Western Conference in two or three years when Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are all hitting the end of their primes. Those who say that the Lakers would be best served to trade their pick in order to gain a free agent like George also argue that in doing so, it would tempt a big time player like Durant to also come to L.A. Unfortunately, there is close to a zero percent chance that Durant willingly chooses to come to the Lakers, no matter who else the Lakers have on the roster. What the Thunder have right now, is the second best roster in the Western Conference. There’s no reason anyone would leave that, even if it were to join LeBron James. Lakers fans and analysts of the game need to realize that rebuilding is process and it takes patience. That is exactly what the Lakers are doing: rebuilding. The Lakers and all of their fans should realize that it takes time and while they build a roster full of young, top-tier talent, they can also use over $62 million in salary cap space to add other veteran free agents (Harrison Barnes and DeMar DeRozan, to name a few) to round out the team and quickly become a force in the Western Conference. Drafting the right way does a lot for a team’s future. The Lakers have done that thus far. Add $62 million to the mix and there’s absolutely no question that the Lakers, with money alone, will attract the right kind of free agents to play alongside a young team and this year’s number two overall pick that will undoubtedly take the Lakers to the next level, sooner, rather than later. • Douglass M O R T U A R Y “Our Family Serving Yours Since 1954” B U R I A L - C R E M A T I O N - W O R L D W I D E T R A N S F E R P E T M E M O R I A L P R O D U C T S 500 EAST IMPERIAL AVENUE EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA 90245 Telephone (310) 640-9325 • Fax (310) 640-0778 • FD658 Baseball Team’s Win is Upsetting By Gregg McMullin The El Segundo high school baseball team drew a tough first round opponent in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 playoffs. Not many people in the South Bay gave the Eagles much of a chance against Mira Costa’s heavy hitting lineup and a top-pitching prospect. The Eagles, however, brushed away those thoughts as El Segundo prevailed 4-2 in front of a huge crowd on Alyssa Pelegrin capped her stellar high school career with a two-run homerun, an RBI double, a walk and had four RBIs against West Torrance. the road. The softball team’s dream season came to a halt in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs with a heartbreaking 7-5 loss in 11 innings to West Torrance. The Eagle baseball team faced a daunting task of playing Mira Costa and a game that featured ace Trevor Franklin, a Pepperdine commit along with five other Division I commits and enough talent to make their opponents sit-up and take notice. There was an extra incentive for the Mustangs to continue their season since head coach Cassidy Olsen is stepping down after the season. But the Eagles, rich with heritage and tradition, weren’t backing down. On the mound for El Segundo was Spencer Long who tamed the Mustang’s line-up with his reliable fastball and confusing curveball. Make no mistake about this game and its importance not only to both schools but South Bay high school baseball. There was plenty of fascination with a prized Mustang lineup add to that the drama of their head coach leaving after the season. On the El Segundo side there was plenty of concern over injuries to key personnel but still loaded with potential. This had all the makings of a one-sided affair. Would Mira Costa look past See Eagles, page 13 El Segundo’s Jasmine Krauss steals second base as Warrior shortstop Mia Wyatt looks to apply the tag.
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