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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Feb 27, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes forward Jakob Poeltl (42) dribbles the ball during the second half against the Arizona Wildcats at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Utah 2on 70-64. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 27, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes forward Jakob Poeltl (42) dribbles the ball during the second half against the Arizona Wildcats at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Utah 2on 70-64. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Trying to predict what the Sacramento Kings are going to do next is a bit like predicting the waves of the ocean or the gusts of the wind. It’s a higher power working without reason or without rhyme for the most part and we can only make educated guesses and conjecture at this point in time. As such, we’re just going to approach the No. 8 pick with that in mind and go off the latest word out of the front office regarding what the organization plans to do in the draft.

As of right now, taking center Jakob Poeltl out of Utah seems like their most likely course of action. Yes, I say this realizing that they took a big man in Willie Cauley-Stein in the 2015 NBA Draft and I’m also aware that DeMarcus Cousins is a very good, very talented player who still plays for the Kings at the time of this mock draft being released.

However, the latest rumblings out of Sacramento have been that the front office is fed up with Boogie Cousins and that they could very well move him this offseason or are at least making him readily available to any takers around the league. For Lakers fans, that should perk up their ears quite a bit as to if the team could put together any kind of package to try and get Cousins. And for the Kings, that could mean hitting the reset button in a way in the draft by taking a talented big man like Poeltl.

Next: No. 9 Raptors

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