General manager Mitch Kupchak said the Los Angeles Lakers would consider trading the No. 2 selection in the NBA Draft, which takes place one week from Thursday.
"We have gotten phone calls," Kupchak told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix in an interview that was recorded last week. "And we will entertain the possibility of moving the pick if the right phone call, the right offer, comes along."
Kupchak added that an offer would need to be substantial. "General managers in this league know they have to offer ... something very substantial. You can’t just call and say, 'Hey, listen, we have interest in the No. 2 pick.'"
This doesn't suggest anything is imminent, and the Lakers keeping their options open is basic due diligence. However, the GM admitted to Mannix that a player either drafted or obtained might need to be more capable of having an immediate impact, given the clock on Kobe Bryant's career.
"To some degree," Kupchak said. "If we can do that and not mortgage the future - in other words, with a player who is in free agency that’s a veteran - then yeah. It's a factor because we do want and we need in this city to show progress."
Earlier this week, Kupchak told reporters that the Lakers would not select a player based on a fit with Bryant, who is expected to retire after either next season or the one after.
"He's never been great with rookies," Kupchak said of Bryant. "We're not going to pick a player because he can play with Kobe, likes Kobe, or dislikes Kobe. We're going to pick the player that can have the longest and best career."
The Lakers have enough cap space to make an impact move in free agency, while potentially drafting a young talent such as D'Angelo Russell or Jahlil Okafor, should they keep their pick.
