Although the Lakers hold the toughest decision with the number two overall pick, most believe they would use it on big man Jahlil Okafor. He’s essentially the safe pick because the Lakers have a long tradition with big men and Okafor had been the consensus top selection for a big part of the year.
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Okafor’s stock has fallen since Duke won the National Championship, which is surprising considering he led his team to the mountain top. The biggest knock on Okafor is his defense and that has scouts concerned. However, his talents on the offensive end are undeniable. Okafor will come in to the league with polished post moves and will be able to score right away.
As mentioned numerous times before, the Lakers cannot miss on this pick and it looks like they might be considering going in a different direction. Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report now expects the Lakers to select D’Angelo Russell out of Ohio State with the second pick:
I now expect Lakers to draft Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell. My column on @Dloading: http://t.co/4wTCshe9AC
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) June 25, 2015
Ding, has been covering the Lakers for a long time and feels like Russell might have done enough in his two workouts to convince the Lakers that he was the right pick. According to Ding, Okafor’s second workout was somewhat of a letdown and that opened the door for Russell.
The 6-foot-5 point guard has been saying all the right things, but you can tell he really wants to be a Laker. His personality seems to fit better with Los Angeles and the Lakers feel he can be a star.
Now, it’s important to note that this is Ding’s opinion. There’s no guarantee the Lakers will pick Russell, but based on what he’s seen these last few weeks, he feels the Lakers will pick the guard later today.