It's hard to be a Los Angeles Lakers fan and watch as talent after talent gets away.
Lakersnation.com reported that the Lakers were serious bidders for the services of troubled Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, but again struck out swinging as the Houston Rockets basically gave up a 2016 first-round pick to work out a deal for the guard.
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Lawson currently is in Los Angeles for rehab after his second DUI arrest in 2015, ESPN reported.
ESPN added that the Rockets sent Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey and Nick Johnson - a veritable "who's that" on the Houston roster - along with their first-round pick next year for Lawson and the Nuggets' second-round pick in 2017.
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The Lakers really had no 2016 first-round pick to offer the Nuggets because unless the pick is among the top three of the NBA Draft, it will go to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Lakersnation.com looked for the silver lining in the miss on Lawson.
"The Lakers may have also been reluctant to give up Jordan Clarkson in a proposed trade for Lawson," the website suggested. "Although Lawson would've been a considerable backcourt upgrade, the Lakers brass not wanting to sacrifice the future to bring in a troubled veteran is a good sign moving forward."
But the Lakers may have been hoping Lawson could've served as an on-court mentor for D'Angelo Russell, the No. 2 pick in the draft whose performance during the summer-league session was underwhelming.
"Let's make this very clear, Russell is not Magic Johnson," coach Byron Scott told the Los Angeles Times. "Magic came on the scene, and instantly he's a Hall-of-Famer. D'Angelo has a way to go, there's no doubt about that.
"Sometimes when you come out here and you're the No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 pick, you expect to come out here and tear the league up," Scott continued. "When guys kind of eat your lunch every now in then, it brings you back down to earth and lets you know that you still have a long way to go. In the long run, this might be the best thing that ever happened to him."
Had the Lakers drafted Jahlil Okafor rather than Russell, they may have been more interested in giving up Clarkson for the chance to put Lawson on a team with Kobe Bryant, Lou Williams, Julius Randle and Okafor.
While the season is still months away, that lineup sure sounds a lot better in July.
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