Los Angeles Lakers should have drafted former Arizona Wildcat Rawle Alkins

The Los Angeles Lakers could have picked up former Arizona Wildcats versatile combo guard Rawle Alkins but missed out on getting a game-changer and glue guy.

When the Los Angeles Lakers are at their best, they have great role players. Every team needs a glue guy, someone who keeps the team glued together because of their attitude, personality, game-changing plays and will to win.

Can you name who that player is on the Lakers currently? Consistently? I had suggested Rawle Alkins before the 2018 draft, but Rob Pelinka went with a Michigan player, and don’t @ me, you know that his alma mater had something to do with it and if that’s the case, he should give Luke a former Wildcat to help the team.

There is no question about my loyalties or my propensity to push for success for Arizona Wildcats now and after they graduate.

Am I a homer for A Players Program? Probably. But I also have a good eye for talent, and I am not talking just over the top talent, but the talent that gets missed because scouts and GM’s may not always look at all the facets of a player’s game. What do I mean by that? I mean the intangibles.

Lou Williams, Los Angeles Clippers, has “it.” Deyonta Davis, Warriors, has “it.” And, so does Alex Caruso, Lakers, he has “it” too. But once you become a professional player, you are at the mercy of the coaching staff and they might not play you in the right position, they may not play you with the right teammates, and their scheme may not accentuate your best qualities.

Every team needs a glue guy, someone who will do the extra stuff that doesn’t land in stat columns. Deflections, second-chance points, demanding the most out of your teammates, making that extra pass, distributing and not hogging the ball, wanting to win no matter what, work ethic and more. You could also call it “heart.”

If Davis wasn’t signed by the reigning NBA Champion Warriors, he may not have been waived and there would be more room for him on their roster. But he is proving he is worthy of playing in the NBA on the Santa Cruz Warriors and why NBA teams have been interested in him.

On Sunday he went 12-of-14 for 24 points and 13 rebounds against the Windy City Bulls. But what is missing in that stat line is that a lot of the rebounds and points were put-back or second-chance points. Davis kept his team in the game, bottom line.

Davis’s No. 1 team in the west lost to the WC Bulls who have been playing better as a team as of late. One of the reasons is former Arizona Wildcat Rawle Alkins.

Alkins, or King Rawle, was the difference-maker on his college team. He shared the ball, looking to make the right play. He was the second-chance points guy, someone who would slam in a dunk or hit a late-game three to get the team going and change the energy to win games.

Alkins has that knack to get the fans into the game with his intensity and playmaking ability. He can play multiple positions as well.

Alkins will go down in Pac-12 history for one of the most entertaining and exciting game-changing slam dunks ever in their Pac-12 Tournament win in the finals against USC 75-61.

Yes, that is the No. 1 overall 2018 NBA draft pick Deandre Ayton logging the assist on the dunk. Normally, Alkins would be passing to Ayton, but in this play, their roles were reversed.

It is baffling to me that Alkins wasn’t drafted.

Alkins is totally playing under the radar. It seems as if he is being kept a secret by the also tanking Bulls. In the two minutes he has played in three games with the Bulls, he has racked up three points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal. He is the former teammates of Bulls star power forward Lauri Markkanen, yet hasn’t played a minute with him.

Wildcats fans can only dream of getting to watch those two play again. Alkins feeding Markkanen and the two living and playing the Savage Life (a saying Alkins trademarked made popular in Tucson). Fans absolutely love him, and Bulls fans on social media keep asking to see him play up.

Alkins plays with no fear. In my opinion, he is not being used to his abilities on the Windy City Bulls. He is great on fast breaks and transition but seldom do guards find him. Instead, it is more typical that he finds them.

I find myself shaking my head when he is wide open on play after play yet doesn’t get the ball enough. When he has played point guard, he has distributed the ball well and gets to the basket more often to score. So don’t look at just his stats, there is so much more to his game.

So why the Lakers? The Lakers, at times, like against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, seem to lack final minutes playmakers, guys who have what it takes to change the energy in the game.

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Alkins plays great defense. Players seldom try scoring on him, he deflects the ball often, doesn’t run out of steam, and he bothers his opponents by staying active with his football size body.

If he could play alongside Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma, players he played against in college, there could have been more wins in Los Angeles. Alkins just makes his teammates better, he is very unselfish.

It was just Saturday night when Alkins former Arizona teammate Deandre Ayton scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, adding two steals and three assists to almost pounding the nail in the coffin on the Lakers playoff hopes.

Ayton’s Suns are one of the teams tanking and had a 12-51 record before beating the Lakers. Allonzo Trier, Ayton and Alkins Arizona teammate last season, stunned the NBA when head coach Dave Fizdale gave him a chance to prove himself.

Trier earned a two-year contract after performing well on his two-way deal. Fizdale also signed Trier and Alkins former teammate, Kadeem Allen, to a two-way contract and signed another former Wildcat, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, to the Westchester Knicks. Fizdale is on to something here, the Lakers need to wake up!

Here is Alkins post workout video where he talks about Kuzma, Ball and Jordan Bell proving his high basketball IQ and knowledge of the game and fellow players.

The Lakers missed the boat on this one. Alkins showed out and killed it in the NBA Combine, both in 2018 and 2017.

Perhaps fellow former Arizona Wildcats and Lakers coaches Luke Walton, Jesse Mermuys, Miles Simon and Isaiah Fox would have a player with a ton of potential and add excitement to Los Angeles, giving them the glue guy they need so desperately on the team. Go get Rawle Alkins, Lakers, Bear Down!