NBA Mock Draft 2016: Who Do the Lakers Select?

Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; D'Angelo Russell (Ohio State) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number two overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; D'Angelo Russell (Ohio State) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number two overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
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Jan 28, 2016; Evanston, IL, USA; Michigan State Spartans forward Deyonta Davis (23) celebrates during the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 28, 2016; Evanston, IL, USA; Michigan State Spartans forward Deyonta Davis (23) celebrates during the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

Just looking at his college game and what he was able to do during his brief stay at East Lansing with the Michigan State Spartans, Deyonta Davis is a player that can do a lot of things well in the frontcourt and has plenty of skills that you look at and make you think that he’s going to have a future in the NBA. As such, he’s a player that Denver would benefit from adding to an already deepening roster.

That being said, there’s a bit of a worry that Davis might be a bit of a tweener in regards to his position. He’s going to have to develop a bit offensively to stretch his range. However, the Nuggets would offer him the luxury of having time to development given the breadth of their roster already.

If I were in a green room during the 2016 NBA Draft, I’d be pushing to take Domantas Sabonis out of Gonzaga with the first-overall pick.

Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration—but the point stands that Sabonis as a prospect is seemingly one of the most undervalued assets in the draft at this point. What’s not to love about the big man as he’s proven that he has a vast arsenal of offensive tools in his game that would allow him to use solid size and strength to score at the next level. Throw in the fact that he has an NBA lineage and the mental advantages that obviously come from being raised in that type of environment and Sabonis could be the steal of this draft and bringing him into a Boston frontcourt in need of size seems a wonderful idea for them.

Next: No. 17 Nuggets, No. 18 Pistons

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