When the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk late in the second round, analysts and Laker fans could barely pronounce his name. Now after watching him tear up summer league competition, he has already sparked into somewhat of a fan favorite.
The Los Angeles Lakers look like they hit on yet another late draft pick. Coming out of the University of Kansas, the one thing about Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk was certain was that he could flat out shoot the basketball. Since putting on a Laker uniform, he has shown he can do much more than that.
His playmaking and ball-handling skills are much better than anticipated and has looked like a much better athlete than advertised as well. He showed that by pulling down boards and even throwing down a couple highlight reel alley-oops.
It could be too soon to jump on the Svi bandwagon, but it seems like the Lakers found another hidden gem in the 2018 draft. He has easily been the Lakers’ second best player in Summer League, next to one of last year’s steals Josh Hart. They both were consistently the top scorers for the Lakers this summer and in the semifinals, they combined for 68 points.
He also made the All-Summer League second team for his solid performance in the tournament. According to Lakers reporter Joey Ramirez, aside from Hart (30th pick last year) and Svi (47th this year), no player on either All-Summer League team was drafted later than 17th over the last two seasons.
His Summer League performance has led some to believe that he can come in and contribute right away in the regular season. His biggest roadblock will be the Lakers depth at shooting guard. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Hart, and Lance Stephenson all figure to get minutes at that spot and they all play better defense than he does.
However, he should adjust to the NBA better than most rookies, because he is a very experienced player. That is why it is not a surprise that he is further along in his development than Isaac Bonga, the Lakers other second-round pick.
He definitely slowed down a ton in the Summer League Championship game, but he already showed enough to earn a roster spot. Take a look at three reasons why he had so much success throughout the Summer League and will end up being a good pick for the Lakers.