Lady Luck was on the side of the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery, as they were one of the big winners of the night.
The Los Angeles Lakers have made a ton of headlines since their season ended in mid-April and for all of the wrong reasons. The Lakers were making headlines because they were a train that went off the rails.
Magic Johnson got things started when he stepped down as president of basketball operations without giving anyone any notice. Luke Walton was fired a few days later and no one really knows who is running the Lakers at this point.
Things hit a fever pitch as the organization began their head coaching search without filling out their front office. Rob Pelinka was running the show and his inexperience was put on center stage as the team botched the Tyronn Lue negotiations.
Once those Lue negotiations broke down, Frank Vogel was eventually selected as the next head coach with Jason Kidd joining his staff, something Lue would not agree to. The pairing of Vogel and Kidd will be one to keep an eye on.
With so much negativity surrounding the organization, the NBA Draft Lottery gave people something else to talk about. Los Angeles was not expected to grab any headlines during the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery, but Lady Luck had other ideas.
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The Lakers came into the lottery with the likeliest odds of landing the No. 11 pick at 77.6 percent. There was a 12.6 percent chance they would land the No. 12 overall pick and slim chances of moving up.
Los Angeles had a 9.4 percent chance to move into the top-four of the draft, with a 2.8 percent chance to land at No. 4, 2.6 percent at No. 3, 2.4 percent and No. 2 and 2.0 percent at No. 1. Against the odds, the Lakers broke into the top-four.
Los Angeles landed the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft as the ping pong balls fell in their favor. As a result, the Lakers became big winners in the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery.
For starters, going from the No. 11 to No. 4 pick means they will have a shot at better prospects. Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland, Texas Tech shooting guard Jarrett Culver, Virginia forward De’Andre Hunter and Duke guard Cam Reddish are some names to consider for the Lakers.
In addition, their trade packages have just improved as well. The No. 11 overall pick is not as enticing of a trade piece as the No. 4 overall pick. Los Angeles is now 10 picks ahead of the Boston Celtics, who were dangling the Sacramento Kings’ first-round pick as trade bait, that landed at No. 14. The New York Knicks landed the No. 3 overall pick, so Los Angeles won’t have to compete with a trade package that potentially included Zion Williamson.
In addition, the monetary values of those draft picks have also changed. Using Real GM’s projected rookie scale numbers, moving up to the No. 4 overall pick, the Lakers first round pick will have a first-year salary of more than $5.8 million. The No. 11 overall pick would have been just over $3.3 million.
That extra $2.5 million means the Lakers don’t have to send out as much salary as originally thought if they decide to use their cap space in free agency before acquiring players via trade. That means they could, theoretically, keep more of their young core because they won’t have to match up as much salary as they would have prior to the 2019 NBA Trade Deadline.
By moving up to the No. 4 pick, the Lakers offseason has finally had a positive thing occur. Despite all of the turnover and negative news that has surrounded the team, they are still in a great position to turn things around on the court in a hurry.