NBA Draft: Lakers Acquire Darius Johnson-Odom From Mavs
Trading Pau Gasol to in order to get into position to draft Michael Kidd-Gilchrist it wasn’t. But keeping in step with the Jim Buss doctrine of no major moves the Lakers did pull off a minor trade to acquire Darius Johnson-Odom from the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavs picked the Marquette shooting guard 55th overall only to later move him to L.A. in exchange for cash.
Johnson-Odom’s game bears a familiar resemblance to Andrew Goudelock who just completed his rookie year with the Lakers. Both are undersized two-guards that aren’t necessarily suited to play point guard in the NBA. Both have made a name for themselves as solid shooters with Goudelock getting the edge and Johnson-Odom being better at creating his shot off the dribble. Johnson-Odom is also a better defender than Goudelock, at least in theory he is.
Unless Johnson-Odom can make the cut we’ll never know how he handles defending NBA caliber talent. Of course should the Lakers let both Goudelock and Darius Morris walk after one year then Johnson-Odom will have a path cleared to making the roster. The odds will be even longer if L.A. retains their two second round picks from a year ago and can manage to re-sign Ramon Sessions.
So for now here is a little video offering of what Johnson-Odom brings to the table.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIDn7uBZBYc