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With two picks in the top ten, the Sacramento Kings looked to be well on their way to further establishing their rebuild in the months since trading DeMarcus Cousins.
However, according to various sources, the Kings may be looking to speed up their rebuild and establish a face to the new Kings by packaging their picks to move up in the draft.
According to ESPN’s Chad Ford, the Kings are looking for suitors to package the fifth and tenth picks in the draft to ensure they land De’Aaron Fox.
There’s talk inside the organization about combining picks Nos. 5 and 10 to move up in the draft to secure Fox. If they found a taker, that would be a high price to pay to move up two to three spots.
This news comes at the same time as Sixer’s President of Basketball of Operations Bryan Colangelo’s said Philadelphia would be open to trading the No. 3 pick.
“I think that should we move or if there’s a transaction that comes out that gives us a chance to perhaps increase what impact No. 3 can have in terms of its return, I think we will look at it,” Colangelo said of a potential trade. “There’s some discussions that have been fairly interesting.”
He added that the Sixers are not motivated to trade the No. 3 pick. However, teams explore all their options at this time of the year.
Los Angeles both holding the No. 2 pick and putting out a consistent rhetoric that they remain intrigued about Fox could pay off in a situation like this. Turning the No. 2 pick into a pair of picks could be a great move for the team.
With the picks, the Lakers could either add three total players to the young core or have more versatility in trades, including potentially off-loading one of the Luol Deng or Timofey Mozgov contracts with a pick attached.
A scenario exists in which the Lakers move the pick and are still able to acquire one of their top four players in the draft should either Phoenix or Philadelphia reach for a player. The team worked out Lonzo Ball on Wednesday, have a workout with Josh Jackson scheduled for Thursday and will workout Fox on Tuesday.
Regardless, the rumor is something to keep in mind as the Lakers move forward and as we near the NBA Draft.
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