The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly looking to trade their young core of talents in the offseason as the franchise tries to restart and replace retiring superstar Kobe Bryant.

The Lakers Nation quoted “The Herd” host Colin Cowherd’s report that Tinseltown is considering to trade some of their young talents, including Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., and D’Angelo Russell, in exchange for a quality superstar come offseason. Cowherd said the Lakers would like to keep Julius Randle, LA’s first round pick in the 2014 draft, and move three of their young guns to instantly convert the team into a title contender.

“The Lakers would trade three of them. They’d like to keep Julius Randle,” Cowherd noted. “They’d move the other three to rebuild it with multiple free agents and Randle’s the only one they really truly believe is ready very quickly to be on a really good NBA team.”

Interestingly, the Lakers seem to embrace the fact that they are bound to be doomed this season, with the franchise “extremely unlikely” to replace head coach Byron Scott, according to Sam Amick of USA Today.

“In any other context on any other team, this would be the kind of stuff that inevitably leads to one of two things: a coaching firing, or a player benching,” Amick disclosed. “But according to a person with knowledge of the Lakers’ situation, it’s extremely unlikely that either option will be exercised anytime soon.”

Scott has been consistently letting Bryant play most minutes of every game despite posting career-lows in shooting percentage. Bryant is averaging a decent 16.8 points per contest, but the five-time NBA champ only make 31.1 percent of his attempts from the field and 22.2 from downtown. With Scott being secured to keep his coaching job, chances are the Lakers could really intend to trade away their assets than fire the head coach.

It is not surprising that the Lakers, sitting at the pit of the Western Conference standings with a 3-11 record, is already looking over to the next season, when they will have plenty of money to sign superstars. Moreover, Bryant’s hefty $25 million salary will come off the back as the Black Mamba is set to retire from the NBA by the end of the season.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.

RELATED STORIES