5. Anything involving the 2018 NBA Draft
The first year that Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka ran a draft for the Lakers, they hit it out of the park. Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart and Thomas Bryant were all selected in the 2017 NBA Draft via a number of moves.
Landing impact rotation players such as Kuzma and Hart with the No. 27 and No. 30 overall picks is always impressive. Whatever they used that season disappeared for the 2018 NBA Draft.
With the No. 25 overall pick, the Lakers selected Moritz Wagner. That wasn’t a bad pick, but the rest of the decisions during the offseason buried him on the bench. Mitchell Robinson, someone the team liked heading into the draft, is already a defensive star and is currently second in the draft class in Win Shares. Did we mention Robinson didn’t play basketball last year and is doing this for the inept New York Knicks?
In the second round, the Lakers used the No. 39 pick on Isaac Bonga, someone only they scouted. The selection right after Bonga? Rodions Kurucs, the starting small forward for the playoff-bound Brooklyn Nets.
At No. 47, they selected Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk. Svi didn’t even make it through his rookie season in the purple and gold, as he was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Reggie Bullock.
Given the landscape of the roster, selecting a backcourt player with their first-round pick would have made more sense. Some options include Landry Shamet and Jalen Brunson, two of the best shooters thus far in this draft class.