The Los Angeles Lakers have a number of big decisions to make this offseason, and the first of them will include the 2023 NBA Draft. The Lakers hold the No. 17 pick in the first round and the No. 47 selection in the second round. It was recently revealed that the team has some interest swinging a trade, but not in the fashion we’ve seen from the Lakers previously.

Although the Lakers have typically used their draft capital as a trade chip in recent years, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo reported in their most recent mock draft that the team is “exploring trade scenarios…especially with teams that have multiple picks.”

It’s an intriguing prospect, one that could mean that the Lakers are interested in a few players in this year’s draft or that they want to add draft assets in an effort to swing a trade. Either option is certainly on the table, but if the Lakers choose to keep their pick(s) in this year’s draft, there are plenty of high-upside prospects in the mid-to-late first round.

ESPN’s latest mock draft has Rob Pelinka and company selecting Arkansas guard Nick Smith Jr., a player who they point out could go as high as No. 8 to the Washington Wizards. Per Givony and Woo, Smith Jr. began last season as a projected top-five pick, but injuries sent him tumbling a bit in the current draft.

Regardless of the direction that the Lakers choose to go, the interest in adding more draft capital points to Pelinka likely targeting some sort of a move or one or two players in a certain range of the draft. Lakers fans could have something to watch for on draft night that goes beyond just the team’s two current selections.

The most likely scenario would be on in which the Lakers use added draft capital in a potential trade for more talent alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.