The Lakers would probably be able to trade for Rajon Rondo if they gave up a pair of first-round picks and Steve Nash‘s expiring contract, tweets Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com, though it’s unclear if that’s merely speculation. Rondo and Kobe Bryant have spoken in the past of their admiration for one another, and they created something of a stir this morning when they had breakfast together in Boston, as Holmes captured in a photo embedded in his tweet. Chris Mannix of SI.com reported a month ago that the Lakers are likely to pursue Rondo in free agency this summer.
Here’s more from the land of “Showtime”:
- The Lakers can “absolutely” still attract star free agents, coach Byron Scott insists, saying that GM Mitch Kupchak and executive VP of basketball ops Jim Buss gave him “very clean insight” about their rebuilding plan when they interviewed him this summer. Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News has the details.
- Bryant has been quoted as saying that the 2015/16 campaign will likely be his last season in the league, but Scott believes that Kobe doesn’t look like a player ready to retire, Adi Joseph of USA Today reports. When asked about Bryant’s potential retirement after his contract expires next season, Scott said, “We’ll talk about that. Listen, you guys have watched him play. He’s got a lot left in the tank. And I think if we put something together that excites him, I think we have a real good chance of saying, ‘Play another year, give it another shot.’ And that’s what we plan to do.”
- For his part, Bryant recently stressed that his thought process regarding when to end his career will strictly entail how his body feels, and if he’s up to the maintenance work required to ensure a productive season, Medina writes in a separate article. “If I want to play, I’ll play. I tend to make my own decisions. If I don’t want to play, I won’t play,” Bryant said. “It’s just a feeling on if I want to go through the process of being ready every single day and the amount of commitment that it takes. It’s nuts. If I want to continue to do that, I will. If I don’t, I don’t.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
As much as I would love it, why in the world would the Lakers trade anything for Rondo? They’re going nowhere this year and will get a top 3 or 4 draft choice. Then they can get Rondo for nothing after the season. So the idea is that they trade a lot for Rondo so that they can win a couple of more games and mess up their draft selection?
I thought LA traded 2 or 3 first round picks for Nash. Any picks they can offer Boston would probably be long range and they already have enough of those. RR9 is captain and well liked, any trade has to be for something overwhelming