The Los Angeles Lakers hold the #2 pick in this year’s NBA draft. The LA club had a dismal showing this season, finishing with a paltry 21-61 record and missing the postseason for the second consecutive year. This is an organization and a fan base that isn’t used to losing, being one of the most successful franchises in any sport of all time. Two vital parts of the lake show getting back to relevancy is getting Kobe healthy and nailing the draft this year starting with the #2 overall selection.
With the Minnesota Timberwolves expected to snag 7’0″ center Karl Anthony-Towns out of Kentucky, the Lakers have tons of ways they could go after that. There are two clear front runners and they come in the form of combo guard D’Angelo Russell out of Ohio State and Center Jahlil Okafor out of Duke. For most of the pre-draft analysis, Jahlil Okafor has been the favorite to go second and maybe even challenge Towns for #1. However according to ESPN’s Chad Ford, the smooth scoring Russell has overtaken Okafor for the second spot on his most recent big board. According to NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper Russell would be a better fit for the team the Lakers are trying to build and could be implemented quicker,
“The lure of Russell is that he would be a perimeter threat to go with Randle’s inside presence, beyond the other obvious lure: Russell has the chance to be a dynamic offensive weapon, with the scoring range of a shooting guard and “elite” passing skills.”
The NBA game has changed vastly over the past couple years. It has become much more fast paced and revolves around quickness. The need for a true center nowadays is almost completely absent with a few exceptions (DeMarcus Cousins, Al Jeferson, etc.). Teams are going to much smaller lineups which is being portrayed currently in the Finals right now with the Warriors playing 6’7″ Draymond Green at center for stretches. We also can’t forget that the Lakers drafted big man Julius Randle in last year’s draft. Okafor and Randle would be able to play at the same time with Randle at the 4 and Okafor at the 5, however since both of them lack a reliable jumpshot there’d be a log jam in the lane, similar to what the Detroit Pistons have had the last few years with Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe.
Okafor may be the safer pick but there is no doubt Russell has the higher ceiling in today’s league. Pairing the young guard up with living legend Kobe Bryant could be a dynamic duo and a father son type relationship for a couple years until Kobe hangs it up for good. Before we all know it, we may witness the rise of the next great guard in Tinseltown starting with this year’s draft.
