The NBA Draft is under two weeks away, which means NBA Draftmas is back. Each day, The Game Haus will review a team’s past season, their team needs and targets. Draftmas continues today with the Los Angeles Lakers 2018 NBA Draft profile.
Summary
The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the most successful franchises since the beginning of professional basketball. Since their championship in 2010, which featured a stacked team starring Kobe Bryant, the team has not had much success. In the eight years after this championship, the best the team has done is make it to two conference semifinals, losing 4-1 and getting swept.
The Lakers have now missed the playoffs five straight seasons, with Bryant on the team for three of those. However, he was consistently facing plenty of injuries combined with fatigue and old age. His 60-point finale truly was all he had left in him as he retired after the 2015-16 season.
These last two seasons have been a roller coaster to say the least, as the new-look Lakers feature plenty of youngsters trying to find their way in the NBA. This most recent season was a great improvement for the team, as they finished with a 35-47 record in a competitive Western Conference behind contributions from young players like Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Julius Randle and Lonzo Ball.
Despite some disappointing seasons since the Kobe Bryant era, this Lakers team is headed in a great direction in terms of its rebuild and has some space to add a couple star players to join their talented youth.
Picks and needs
The Los Angeles Lakers have two picks in this year’s NBA Draft.
First round: No. 25
Second round: No. 47
With the Lakers having a pretty solid group of young guys in Kuzma, Ingram and Ball, it seems as though they are well off in these positions for the most part. They are mostly in search of big men, as it is a decent possibility that Brook Lopez and/or Julius Randle are both moved before the beginning of next season.
Targets and thoughts
Pick No. 25: Mitchell Robinson, C, Chalmette High School
Robinson is a phenomenal example of a high-risk, high-reward player that can be taken at virtually any point in the draft. He did not attend college strictly to prepare for an NBA career, and this could potentially pay off for the big man.
Robinson stands 7 feet tall with a 9-foot-3 standing reach, so he definitely has the body to be an athletic big man. He is already known for his athleticism and is almost guaranteed to improve in most facets of his game with all the time he took off in preparation.
Since he does not have any college basketball experience under his belt, Robinson still remains a risk for most teams, which is what pre-draft workouts are a beautiful thing for. If he impresses at these workouts and flies under the radar due to his lack of experience, he could be just what the Lakers need on their roster.
Pick No. 47: Grayson Allen, SG, Duke
This will assuredly not be the only time that this name will be thrown around in a second-round NBA draft prediction. Allen is such a popular name for various reasons and could definitely be taken much earlier due to his proven ability.
Allen is a 6-foot-5 guard who has shown flashes of great things in his four years at Duke. After averaging almost 22 points per game with efficiency in his sophomore season, he slowed down since and averaged just 15.5 his senior year. He did not necessarily become worse. Others were just better, causing him to be overlooked a bit. For this reason, he could fall a bit in this year’s draft.
Grayson Allen’s grit and competitive nature could provide a spark off of the Lakers’ bench. It will be very interesting to see who takes Allen, and more importantly, how early he goes. With the off chance that he does fall to the Lakers at No. 47, however, he could be an absolute steal for the team.
Featured image from Freebie Supply
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