The Los Angeles Lakers won’t gamble future returns for immediate success.
The Lakers are refusing to include four of their most promising young players in a potential trade for Phoenix Suns veteran Trevor Ariza, The Los Angeles Times’ Brad Turner reported Wednesday via Twitter, citing sources. The teams have been engaged in trade talks this week and might include the Houston Rockets in order to facilitate a deal.
Lakers won’t surrender Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kyzma or Josh Hart to Suns for Trevor Ariza, source. Suns turned down a 3-team proposal, source. And 2 sources confirmed Rockets called Lakers 2 weeks ago about trading for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. No deal is imminent.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) December 12, 2018
Each of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram (both 21), Kyle Kuzma and Hart (23) is in his second or third season and playing at least 25 minutes per game. They form the heart of the Lakers’ young core, which the team hopes will morph into its next dynasty in the coming years.
However, LeBron James’ arrival in Los Angeles instantly improved the Lakers’ fortunes. They currently are 17-10 and sit fourth in the Western Conference standings.
Adding Ariza, 33, might improve the Lakers’ playoff positioning and chances of making a deep postseason run, but team president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka don’t seem to have adopted the win-now approach to team building even with James in the fold.
