– Experienced winner
One of the things the Lakers really like about Josh Hart was his winning pedigree in college. Villanova has turned into one of the most successful basketball programs in the country with Jay Wright as the head coach, and winning is also something that has to be learned.
Wright is doing a great job coaching at Villanova and his players know how to win games. For the Lakers, they are trying to establish the winning culture similar to what Villanova has, and drafting winners is a good way to do that.
While winning in college and the NBA are two very different things, experience winning games in college will help in certain situations in an NBA game. In DiVincenzo’s two seasons as a major contributor for Villanova, the team totaled 68 wins. With 32 wins in the 2016-17 season and 36 last season, DiVincenzo knows what winning is all about.
In addition to being a winner at Villanova, him playing a major role the past two seasons is also something that the Lakers like when it comes to drafting a player. As we saw with Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma, they were able to step in right away and be rotation players. For some players out of college, that can take a while, as they haven’t been prepared properly after just one season.