Los Angeles Lakers: The Mitchell Robinson wound is reopened on Twitter

The Los Angeles Lakers have to like how things have panned out after the worst stretch in franchise history. The team was able to sign LeBron James, trade for Anthony Davis and win the 17th championship in franchise history.

The Lakers have another solid roster and are the favorites in the Western Conference to win the NBA Championship. It is hard to complain about what Rob Pelinka and his front office have done over the last several years.

However, there is one player that got away that the team likely still regrets. Center Mitchell Robinson was the perfect player for the Lakers in the 2018 NBA Draft but the team passed on him in the first round and he did not fall to the second. Adding Robinson to the roster would have been huge then and now.

That wound has been reopened by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, who reminded Laker fans that the team literally gave Robinson a locker prior to him being drafted by the Knicks.

The Los Angeles Lakers liked Mitchell Robinson but should have been all-in on him.

The Los Angeles Lakers picked Moritz Wagner with the 25th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Robinson was picked 11 picks later and the Lakers had another selection at 39. And according to previous reports, the Lakers were ready to draft Robinson with the 39th overall pick. Instead they drafted Isaac Bonga.

There were concerns around Robinson as he did not participate in a draft combine after not playing basketball the year prior. He naturally fell into the second round as the risk was lower and the price was cheaper, but the talent was very obviously there.

Heck, back in 2018 I predicted the Lakers to draft Robinson with the 25th overall pick. It made perfect sense at the time and it has since become a wound for the Lakers.

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Would Robinson still be on the team after the Anthony Davis trade? Who knows. What we do know is the team would have landed a solid center that would have fit exactly what the team did last season and would have kept the team from making the Marc Gasol signing this season.

Robinson is a traditional rebounding/rim-protecting center that would have massively been elevated by playing with LeBron James. He has been great in his young career thus far and he would have been even better with LeBron.

Robinson is averaging 8.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in his career with a 70.5 effective field goal percentage. In fact, Robinson led the entire NBA in eFG% in 2019.

He just barely turned 23 years old and is going to be a double-double machine for the next 7-8 years. The Los Angeles Lakers do not currently have a long-term plan for the center position either and Robinson could have filled that need substantially.

Getting that reminder of how much the Lakers like Robinson is a bit painful considering the team did not draft him, but it is okay. Rob Pelinka can wipe his tears with his championship ring.