BREAKING: Lakers And Pacers Reportedly Make A Trade
On Thursday evening, the 2023 NBA Draft will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
In addition to the 58 players that will hear their names called, many trades typically happen during the day.
On Thursday afternoon, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers have agreed to a trade.
Via Wojnarowski's first tweet: "The Los Angeles Lakers are acquiring the 40th pick from the Indiana Pacers for No. 47 and cash, sources tell ESPN."
Via Wojnarowski's second tweet: "The Lakers now own Nos. 17 and 40 on the draft board tonight. They made a move up a board that's believed to have some real second-round value. The Pacers hold four picks tonight, including Nos. 7, 26, 47 and 55."
The Lakers are coming off an impressive season where they made the Western Conference Finals after entering the NBA Playoffs as the seventh seed.
In the first two rounds, they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors, but in the Conference Finals, they were swept by the eventual NBA Champion Denver Nuggets.
In recent years, the team has done a good job of finding talent in the second round and signing undrafted free agents.
As for the Pacers, they finished the 2023 season as the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference, so they did not make the Playoffs (or the play-in tournament).
The franchise has been in rebuilding mode for the last two seasons but has the talent to compete for the Playoffs in 2024
