NBA Rumors: Los Angeles Lakers Eye Kristaps Porzingis Trade; D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson Welcome Carmelo Anthony's Protege

By Mitch de Leon
Kristaps Porzingis
Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks against Kris Humphries of the Washington Wizards Wikimedia Commons/Keith Allison

The Los Angeles Lakers are looking into adding more talented players in their roster. After roughly two decades of the Kobe Bryant era, the Jordan Clarkson team now needs a new star to build the team around. While D'Angelo Russell showed notable plays in the hardwood court last NBA season, some fans believe that his skills are not enough for him to be the next Black Mamba of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Among the rookies who debuted in the hardwood court last NBA season, two young stars stood out - Kristaps Porzingis and Karl-Anthony Towns. With the Minnesota Timberwolves aiming to build the franchise around Towns, Zach Lavine and Andrew Wiggins, the chances of a trade involving the rookie are very slim. Meanwhile, the New York Knicks are in a hurry to win an NBA championship.

Carmelo Anthony, the face of the New York Knicks franchise, is not getting any younger. With buddies LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul raking in playoffs experiences in the past years, Anthony has yet to bring his team to the series. For approximately a decade now, the New York Knicks have been a no-show in the NBA playoffs - a fact that frustrates an All-Star like Anthony. So what should the team do to keep their main man happy?

The entry of Porzingis into the New York Knicks roster brought in an unexpected showing for the team. However, the Latvian's star power failed to help the Arron Afflalo team make it to the NBA playoffs. With the clock ticking for Anthony, rumor has it that the New York Knicks are looking into a power trade involving the 20-year-old rookie and the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I'll tell you what, that kid [Porzingis] has an upside that's unbelievable," shared Byron Scott of Kristaps Porzingis. The former Los Angeles Lakers head coach added, "He's 7'3, and again, when we had him in to work out he wasn't in great shape at that particular time You just didn't see all of this. You knew the kid could be good but you thought he would be good in three to four years, you didn't think he'd be good this year, this early."

While Scott shared that the Los Angeles Lakers are happy with Russell, the idea of signing Porzingis paints a promising future for the team that is currently building its roster.

"Yes. [the discussion of whether or not to take Porzingis was] pretty close," revealed Scott of the NBA draft season of Russell and Porzingis. He went on to share, "Like I said, he just came in town, he was pretty worn out after like 20 minutes. So you just didn't get a chance to see everything he's capable of doing until the season started and we saw him in the summer league. I said 'whoa, this kid's going to be good.' So there was a serious discussion about him, and probably if he'd have been in great shape, then there would have been even more serious discussions about him."

At the moment, Porzingis and Towns once again proved their dominance over the other rookies in their batch. Both young stars got unanimous votes to be on the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets also made the first team.

Meanwhile, D'Angelo Russell joins the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Justise Winslow of the Miami Heat and Emmanuel Mudiay of the Denver Nuggets are also part of the list. Rounding up the second team are Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers and Willie Cauley-Stein of the Sacramento Kings.

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