Los Angeles Lakers: History of the 28th pick in NBA Draft

The Los Angeles Lakers are selecting in the No. 28 spot in the NBA Draft for the first time. How have teams fared when using the 28th pick?

Los Angeles Lakers fans are looking forward to their team selecting the transcendent point guard from UCLA, Lonzo Ball, with the number two pick in the draft in the 2017 NBA Draft. The draft is set to be held on June 22nd in Philadelphia.

And whilst there is much excitement about the impending selection of Ball, The Lake Show also have the 28th pick in the first round, which was acquired from Houston in the Lou Williams deal.

Let’s take a look at the history of the 28th pick of the NBA draft. For this article, the focus will only be on NBA drafts that have taken place since 1995, which is the year Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies were added via expansion to make the league go from 27 to 29 teams (Charlotte Bobcats were added in 2004 to make 30). The data was provided by basketball-reference.

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Out of the 22 years that there have been at least 28 picks in the first round, the San Antonio Spurs have drafted the most times from the slot — seven times. It makes sense since the most successful teams receive the picks at the bottom of the draft unless the pick is traded, which is the Lakers case this year.

Other franchises with multiple picks here are Chicago Bulls and Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies both having three, and Utah Jazz with two. The Lakers have never drafted from this slot before.

Here is what we find when breaking down the history of the 28th pick:

Greg Ostertag, in 1995, was the first player drafted at pick 28 of the first round by the Jazz.
There have been 12 guards drafted, six forwards, and four centers.
The slot has been used nine times on foreign-born players.
The oldest player drafted here was Dan Dickau in 2002 by the Grizzlies at 23 years and 289 days old.
The youngest player drafted was Ian Mahinmi in 2005 by the Spurs at 18 years and 240 days old.
There are six NBA champions – Tony Parker (2001 Spurs) has four rings, Beno Udrih (2004 Spurs) has two rings, and Tiago Splitter (2007 Spurs) has one with them. Norris Cole was drafted by the Bulls in 2011 but traded to Miami Heat and won two rings with them. Leandro Barbosa, drafted by Spurs in 2003 but traded to Phoenix, won a title with Golden State Warriors in 2015. Mahinmi was a member of the Dallas Mavericks’ 2011 championship team.

Besides the outlier in Parker, who is probably headed for the Hall of Fame, and 2007 Sixth Man of the Year Barbosa, the 28th draft slot has not yielded much quality. Even going back to 1951 for the complete history of the 28th pick, including all rounds, there are 63 players drafted and only six of them has averaged at least 10 points per game his career.

Next: 10 Greatest Draft Picks In Lakers History

It is unlikely the Lakers will find a Hall of Famer with the 28th pick but they should look at how the championship players who were drafted at No. 28 contributed to their team. They all filled specific needs for their teams. The Lakers biggest need going into this summer is on the defensive side of the ball. Finding a defensive-minded player could be the Lakers’ plan for the 28th pick.