1. Grant Riller, SG/PG
Grant Riller is a combo guard out of the College of Charleston. He fits the Lakers’ bill to a tee considering he played four years of college basketball and could easily step into an NBA rotation from the jump of his career.
Riller averaged an excellent 21.9 points to go along with 5.1 boards and 3.9 assists per game this past year. If I had to put a current player comp on Riller, it would likely be Fred Van Vleet. They both are undersized 2’s that can hold their own with the handles — they both also have fantastic three-point ability.
Dominic Samangy (@DSamangy) recently tweeted a dashboard of Riller’s attributes and production at the college level. Simply put, there is a lot to like.
Next up is @grantriller97 of @CofCBasketball, a 6’3” combo guard who is arguably the best slasher in the draft. His explosive first step and ability to finish creatively w/ either hand is next to none in his class.
— Dom Samangy (@DSamangy) September 29, 2020
(Video breakdown below ‼️⬇️) pic.twitter.com/eZzpPFLHXN
The Lakers figure to head into the 2020-2021 season with a plethora of combo guards — namely Alex Caruso and Avery Bradley should he not opt-out of his player option — but Riller adds another potential piece to the puzzle. While Riller might not supply much defensive firepower to fit into defensive schemes under a head coach like Frank Vogel, his offensive ability is very likely to translate into NBA caliber.
Riller is currently projected to go around the late-20s of the first round and some expert draft sites have already claimed Riller to the Lakers as a match made in heaven. The fact that Riller seems to be one of the most high-probability NBA contributors in the class could eventually make him a lottery-type producer.