The Lakers (27-55) last season finished with the sixth-worst record in the league and had a 21.5 percent chance of moving into the top three and a 6.3 percent shot for the number one pick. With that being said, the Lakers were "supposed" to get the 6th overall pick in the draft but winded up with the 7th pick in the draft. The 6th pick went to the Boston Celtics. Los Angeles will have to pass on drafting college superstars such as Jabari Parker from Duke, center Joel Embiid and swingman Andrew Wiggins. The Lakers will need to dig deep in this years draft class to find out who will possibly be a franchise player and one to build around Kobe Bryant.
Cleveland was 9th in the lottery but something happened that shook the whole lottery by storm. The 9th pick went to Charlotte who made the playoffs this year. In the past few seasons, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert had sent his son Nick to represent the team. Nick has been a good luck charm for the franchise the past few years. Due to pure luck, Cleveland and Nick drafted All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving and in the last years they drafted Anthony Bennett out of UNLV. This year, new General Manager David Griffin represented the Cavs on the stage as the results of the lottery were announced on ESPN.
James Worthy represented the Lakers in this years' lottery. Worthy was the last player the Lakers selected at number one overall. He sat on stage with bobbleheads of Jerry Buss and Chick Hearn. Los Angeles was drawn the 7th pick. Still, this will now be the Lakers highest pick since 1982, when they chose Worthy over Terry Cummings and Dominique Wilkins. The Lakers have selected in the lottery twice and the players were Eddie Jones with the tenth pick and Andrew Bynum who was also the tenth pick. At the NBA draft combine in Chicago last week, Lakers executives including General Manager Mitch Kupchak interviewed players who could land anywhere in the first round of the draft. Some of the players interviewed included Australia’s Dante Exum, a point guard long linked to the Lakers, and Kentucky forward Julius Randle.
At number seven, players such as Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart and Kentucky WIldcat Juliius Randle are more likely to be available. Here is a brief look at their stats.
Marcus Smart: 18.0 (PPG), 5.9 (RPG) 4.8 (APG)
This would be the best option for the Lakers. Smart is a very solid point guard that could provide good bench minutes for Steve Nash and possibly later on in the season start over the aged Nash.
Julius Randle: 15.0 (PPG) 10.4 (RPG) 1.4 (APG)
This might not be a bad pick either for Los Angeles as they unsure if power forward Pau Gasol is going to resign or not. Gasol has hinted that he wants to play for numerous teams. Gasol also stated that if the Lakers were to resign him he would not take a pay cut.
The Lakers have a number of moves to make this summer. Chief among them will be hiring their third coach in three seasons.
On July 1, the Lakers will enter costless agency with only three players – Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Robert Sacre – under contract, with point guard Kendall Marshall (team option) and forward Ryan Kelly (qualifying offer) most likely to stay on.
