The Los Angeles Lakers’ season seemed to go down in flames last month when they were unable to pull off the long-rumored Anthony Davis blockbuster with the New Orleans Pelicans.
At that time, it seems like then-Pelicans general manager Dell Demps did not want to work with Magic Johnson and Co. Reports also surfaced that it was the Pelicans who were leaking the names of players potentially set to head to New Orleans in the deal.
It led to some unwanted drama with multiple members of the Lakers knowing they were involved in trade talks surrounding Davis.
Now comes this report from Fox Sports NBA insider Chris Broussard indicating that Los Angeles was actually leaking the names involved in trade talks.
“What I was told today by a good source is that the Lakers were also leaking the names,” Broussard reported.
This seems counter-productive in the grand scheme of things. Continuity within the locker room was impacted big time. Since then, the Lakers have pretty much fallen out of the Western Conference Playoff race.
Though, there could be some method to the Lakers’ madness. Just recently, LeBron James questioned whether his young teammates had the maturity to handle in-season rumors and drama.
Could this have been the Lakers’ front office attempting to test said youngsters? Yeah, we’re looking at Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball here.
As it is, we’re expecting a major roster overhaul in Los Angeles once free agency opens up in July. This report suggests that’s more than likely going to happen.