Rumor Roundup: Moving up in the NBA Draft, Devin Carter interest, JJ Redick interview

With the 2024 NBA Draft closing in, the rumors are heating up with reported interest from the Lakers of a desire to trade up.

Rumors around the Lakers have been uncharacteristically light considering the 2024 NBA Draft is barely a week away and the summer has lots of intrigue awaiting them. Much of that may be due to the fact the team doesn’t even have a head coach, but that appears to be a situation that is finally coming to a conclusion in the coming week.

Accordingly, the rumors seem to be firing up once again. Let’s take a look at the latest, which includes buzz about the draft and Redick alike.

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Trading UP in the draft??

There’s been plenty of discussion about the Lakers and trades on draft night, but almost all of it has been about the team trading away picks for a superstar player. However, a new type of trade was brought up recently.

On the most recent episode of “No Cap Room,” Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported that there has been buzz that the Lakers are interested in trading up in the draft.

“I’ve heard plenty of people that they are considering at No. 17. There’s talk of the Lakers wanting to move up a little bit. If they stay at 17, I’ve heard plenty of them looking at bigs.”

While this is a fun topic to think about, there’s two things to consider here:

1. Everyone is talking every year about trading up and down in the draft in the weeks leading up to it.
2. It’s hard to construct a sensible trade package the Lakers could use to trade up

There is little chance the Lakers are willing to package multiple first round picks to move up in the draft. They also don’t have a player that has enough positive value to move up, either.

Jalen Hood-Schifino, for example, is just one year removed from being a first round pick but barely played this season. Some players on bigger contracts, like Rui Hachimura, aren’t going to be sought after by lottery teams in rebuilds.

For now, chalk this one up to the constant rumblings of the league. But if something does become a bit more serious, don’t be surprised.

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Devin Carter interest

In the same answer where he discussed the Lakers having interest in trading up, Fishcer also discussed Devin Carter, a prospect the purple and gold are very interested in.

“Devin Carter, a Providence guard, he seems to be someone that the Lakers seem to like. I’ve been told that would be his absolute floor. I don’t think he’ll get anywhere close. I don’t think he’s getting out of lottery, let alone even out of the top 10.”

This isn’t the first time the Lakers and Carter have been linked. The team reportedly hosted him for a predraft workout.

However, the big issue here is that Carter is likely to be gone by pick No. 17. This, perhaps, is then linked to the Lakers’ desire to trade up in the draft, which feels like the only realistic way to draft Carter.

On DraftExpress, Carter is projected at pick No. 12. The latest mock draft from The Athletic has Carter slated to go at pick No. 8.

It seems the only way the Lakers could get Carter is trading up for him. And it would be quite the odd decision to trade up in the draft for a guard when the roster has a dearth of them already.

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JJ Redick still the favorite after interview

After multiple discussions and lots of rumors and reports, the Lakers finally met with JJ Redick this weekend. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN initially reported the meeting was to happen and Dan Woike of the LA Times confirmed it took place over the weekend.

The Lakers hosted former player and current broadcaster JJ Redick on Saturday in their most formal interview with him to date, with multiple members of the organization speaking to the former Duke star about the team’s head-coaching vacancy.

This feels like the final step in something that has felt like a formality for a while, The pursuit of Dan Hurley altered that thinking a bit, but ultimately, it seems the team is going to end up at the spot most imagined they would for the last month, something longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein also reported in his latest newsletter.

JJ Redick would appear (stress: appear) to have reclaimed his previous standing as the favorite to land the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching job — assuming he wants it — in the wake of Dan Hurley’s decision to stay at UConn.

As one source close to the process put it to me Friday: “You know who is getting the job.”

Now, it’s just a matter of when, something that’ll be determined by when the NBA Finals come to an end.

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Rob Dillingham works out at Lakers facility

One final story with a minor connection to the Lakers. Rob Dillingham, a Klutch client, was invited to the NBA Draft after completing his NBA Combine requirements at the Lakers practice facility last Friday.

Dillingham is ranked by most even higher than Carter, so the odds of him landing in Los Angeles feel slim. But even if it was a workout separate from the Lakers, which this appears to be, it means the Lakers still likely saw him up close.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.