Los Angeles Lakers: Which former young Laker will have the best career?
10. Moritz Wagner
Mo Wagner was shipped to the Washington Wizards in the summer of 2019 to create more cap space for the Lakers to surround Anthony Davis and LeBron James with more talent. Wagner is a fierce competitor — the type of attitude that will provide him with an NBA job as a depth piece for likely many years.
He looks like a prototypical stretch-five or a solid stretch-four at age 22 and will certainly get his fair share of minutes for a rebuilding Washington Wizards team for the time being. Magic Johnson was the man who fell in love with Wagner when he was at Michigan and was the primary reason the team selected him at 25th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Wagner averaged 17.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per 36 minutes this season. If he gets some more imminent run, he could develop into a really nice piece. He is quickly becoming a better outside shooter too, shown by his increase from 28.6 percent in his rookie year to a 34.3 percent this season.
9. Larry Nance Jr.
Larry Nance was a fun player for the Lakers during the ‘dark ages’ of the rebuild. He has slowly developed into a lot more than a high-flying act due to his excellent defensive presence. He was always too undersized to play the five, but his vertical and defensive instincts make up for that.
In the 2019-2020 season, Nance averaged 26.3 minutes per game, posting 10.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The most surprising aspect of his game that has improved, though, is with his presence from beyond the arc.
He was a non-factor from the three-point line during his Lakers tenure, but this season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he is shooting is excellent 35.2 percent.
Not only was he able to develop his mid-range game further, he also developed a reliable three-point shot. This development bodes well for his future outlook as 3-and-D big men don’t grow on trees.
Nance is a solid role player for the Cavaliers and at age 27, he still has some solid years ahead of him.