The Los Angeles Lakers *should* have selected: Derrick White
Now, both of the players that the Los Angeles Lakers could have selected are going to have an impact on who they selected at pick number 30. The Lakers selected Josh Hart with that pick and both of these picks would have changed that.
Maybe that means Kuzma falling to the 30th overall pick and the Lakers getting him there, and then including him in the Davis deal instead of Josh Hart? Maybe it would have been a different prospect that was thrown into the Davis deal. Either way, Hart was not the main piece of that trade, so him being someone else would not change the future dramatically.
Instead of Kuzma, the Lakers could have gone with the player that went one pick ahead of Josh Hart in the draft, Derrick White.
White is not a hugely impactful scorer and is not going to fill the box sheet on any given night, so a casual basketball fan who has never watched Kuzma nor White play would probably favor Kuzma because of his points per game.
What White brings, and Kuzma certainly doesn’t, is elite defense. Having White in this Lakers backcourt would be incredible and he still would have gotten the chances to blossom with the Lakers as he would have gotten the minutes that Hart got in LA.
White is stellar defensively and he would be that one extra defender that the Lakers could utilize to defense a two-wing team, such as the Los Angeles Clippers. In terms of win shares per 48 minutes, White ranks 12th in all of the 2017 draft class, 17 spots higher than Kuzma.