Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons they are a better destination than Clippers
By Robert Marvi
1. The Lakers will have a lottery pick
Even though their front office has made plenty of blunders in recent years, one thing they’ve done really well is draft. Even if they’ve jettisoned some of those draft picks for next to nothing. They’ve even done a good job of finding quality players deep in the draft, such as Kyle Kuzma, Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson and Ivica Zubac.
In just a couple months, the Lakers will find themselves with a pretty high pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. While it is extremely unlikely they will find themselves with the opportunity to draft Zion Williamson, they can still get a very good complimentary player with that pick.
Even if they only trade that pick for someone else who will help right away, that is a valuable asset to go along with their other valuable assets (more on that later).
The Clippers, on the other hand, will give up their first round draft pick to the Celtics should they make the playoffs (which, in all likelihood, they will).
Given the financial atmosphere of the modern NBA, it is critical to get good draft picks and to turn them into quality players. This gives you a leg up on making your team attractive to big time free agents.
The Golden State Warriors, by drafting Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, are prime examples of this, as it allowed them to attract Kevin Durant a couple years ago, who took them to a whole new level that they had never reached before.