Report: Lakers Have Jahlil Okafor and Emmanuel Mudiay Atop Their Draft Board
It’s been long passed since the Los Angeles Lakers started thinking and planning for next season, especially so after Kobe Bryant’s season-ending shoulder injury last month. Even in Kobe’s time on the court this Laker team was headed nowhere. They weren’t able to land Carmelo Anthony before the season, trade for Rajon Rondo or anyone else (not even Dion Waiters) this season, or even get Jeremy Lin off of their hands.
Now the Lakers have only the upcoming draft and free agency to rely on in terms of building another formidable team.
Since the Lakers have found themselves at the bottom of the league this season, a high draft pick will be in order at the NBA Draft this June.
According to ESPN’s Chad Ford, the Lakers have their top sights on Okafor and Mudiay:
If they finish with the worst record in the league, Okafor is a slam dunk for them. Their best and only big man is Jordan Hill, and he’s a far cry from Okafor. For a team that has a long legacy of elite big men — from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Shaquille O’Neal to Andrew Bynum (OK, not so much Bynum) — the Lakers would love to have a young front line of Okafor and Julius Randle. Okafor’s closest competition I’m told is Mudiay, but it’s not that close right now.
Being that the Lakers have the fourth-worst record in the league, popular and understandable speculation has gone to tanking the season in order to increase their chances of earning a top lottery pick in the draft. If the Lakers don’t finish with one of the worst two records, however, the first-round draft pick they have now will go to the Phoenix Suns.
Okafor and Mudiay are their own respective talents, but as the Lakers must know, that would be just a medium-sized piece to building a championship puzzle for Kobe Bryant in his 20th season and the last season of his contract. The Laker way is to have a great big man, thus making Okafor the obvious favorite according to Ford,
