For many franchises, the NBA Draft is a wellspring of hope, the possibility that lean years might turn around and they might uncover the star who changes their fortunes.
That’s no longer true for the Lakers, who already have the stars they need to win and have indeed already won with them. So what does a shot at the future represent to a team that keeps pushing its chips to the present?
Thursday will bring an answer to how the Lakers’ front office values a draft pick: as a young player who can help them win now, or as a trade chip to help find that player who is already in the league. With LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the fold and having a shot at another championship next season, it would seem more urgent to find another co-star now than pick one who might convey in a few years.
Last offseason, General Manager Rob Pelinka made an effort to thread a delicate needle: getting younger at key positions while staying competitive by adding players like Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schröder. While pandemic-related protocols and an unprecedented short offseason helped create an already difficult environment for the Lakers to repeat as champions, ultimately the experiment didn’t succeed in 2021.
Then again, the Lakers might look to their first-round pick as a rare opportunity: Their 2022 and 2024 picks are already out the door thanks to the 2019 trade that brought them Davis, and their 2023 pick could be subject to a swap. There are not going to be many opportunities to pump fresh blood into the franchise.
The 2021 draft, it appears, has a wide scope of talent. The Lakers are sitting at No. 22, with the option to draft and keep their first-round pick for the first time since 2018 (Moritz Wagner). While they won’t be in range to select the most coveted prospects – Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and USC big man Evan Mobley are most commonly seen as the three best players available – they’ll be in a range where they’ve had considerable success: Kyle Kuzma (No. 27), Josh Hart (No. 30), Larry Nance (No. 27) and Ivica Zubac (No. 32).
Prognosticators view the Lakers as looking for a win-now player, which squares with their championship goals this season. The answer might be a title-winning player: ESPN and The Ringer both have the Lakers taking Baylor’s Jared Butler (16.7 ppg, 41.6% 3-point shooter) in their mock drafts, just months after the 20-year-old helped lead the Bears to NCAA glory. The Athletic has them taking Florida’s Tre Mann – both players are tall guards (6-foot-5 and 6-4, respectively) with shooting touch who have spent multiple years in college.
The wing and guard positions are places where the Lakers are looking for a scoring punch with Schröder, Alex Caruso and Talen Horton-Tucker all looming as free agents. Other potential candidates to join the Lakers in the draft are Oregon’s 6-6 Chris Duarte, who has seen his stock rise in the last week, or LSU’s Cameron Thomas, according to a Sports Illustrated mock draft.
However even though the Lakers have hit on draft picks in recent years, it’s just as likely that they’ll try to use their pick to acquire a player with more experience. ESPN and other outlets have reported that the Lakers have been shopping trades involving swingmen Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope around the league. If they hope to find a helpful veteran, a first-round draft pick is a natural part of any potential deal.
But a draft pick also is a bit like a car: Once it becomes an actual player, the value depreciates. If the Lakers make a trade with their first-round pick, it is more likely than not to happen on Thursday night.
Various media reports have tied the Lakers to certain veterans in trade or sign-and-trade talks. While each should be taken with grains of salt at a time of year that invites misinformation, some of them include Washington’s Russell Westbrook, Sacramento’s Buddy Hield, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and San Antonio’s DeMar DeRozan. For any of those players, draft picks might be needed to grease the wheels.
It’s a question of priorities for the Lakers, one which will keep the NBA guessing until Commissioner Adam Silver tells the world what’s happening at No. 22.
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