Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk was a good pick

3. He has played against elite competition

Perhaps the reason why Mykhailiuk fell so far in the draft is that he is older than most players taken in the lottery, at 21 years of age. With the NBA getting increasingly younger by the year, this causes teams to go after players that are earlier in their career because they have more upside and room to grow.

However, Mykhailiuk’s age can also be looked at as an advantage for the Lakers. He has a ton of experience playing both professional overseas and collegiate basketball, and he is still barely old enough to grab a drink.

When he was only 17, he was already playing professionally at the highest level in Europe for the Ukranian National team in the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Then in college, he played at one of the blue-chip programs, at the University of Kansas.

In the Big 12 Conference, he consistently went up against some of the best competition in America. He started all 39 games his senior season, and four years of learning under one of the best college coaches in Bill Self definitely helped develop his game.

In the past couple of seasons, some of the Lakers best draft picks have been players that spent a few years in college. Guys like Larry Nance Jr., Kyle Kuzma, and Josh Hart all played at least three years in college and they all came in and contributed right away. In contrast to the Lakers’ lottery picks who were one and done’s and struggled to meet expectations in their rookie seasons.