Lakers Draft News: Marcus Smart declares for draft

Mar 21, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Marcus Smart (33) shoots between Gonzaga Bulldogs center Przemek Karnowski (24) and guard David Stockton (11) in the first half of a men

One year ago, most considered Marcus Smart the consensus #1 draft pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. When Smart said he’d return to school, he not only turned down the #1 draft pick, but he entered himself into a much deeper draft class. The season went far from planned, but Smart wasn’t going to make the same mistake again, officially declaring for the NBA Draft.

Smart is still considered a top-10 prospect and one of the top point guards in the draft along with Dante Exum. With the Lakers sliding a bit in the draft order, Smart could certainly be right in their wheelhouse in the 6-10 range. By most accounts, Smart will gone by the 10th pick.
Smart’s stock took a hit with inconsistent play all year. Most notably, though, was his altercation with a Texas Tech fan that resulted in a multiple-game suspension. Following the suspension, Smart played a much smarter, controlled game and helped steady the Oklahoma State ship.

For more on Smart, you can take a look at the multipleposts we’ve done on the sophomore point guard. First, there have been a handful of draft profiles done by our own Mike Garcia, which you can find here, here, and here. You can read some comparison between him and Tyler Ennis and Dante Exum. And, lastly, our own Valerie Morales looks at whether the Lakers should draft Smart, given his character issues.