Los Angeles Lakers: 3 early candidates for the 22nd overall pick
By Jason Reed
The non-lottery picks for the 2021 NBA Draft have officially been set and the Los Angeles Lakers will pick with the 22nd overall pick in the draft. The New Orleans Pelicans would have gotten the Lakers’ pick if the team somehow fell into the top seven, but it was a foregone conclusion that they were not going to fall that far, let alone miss the playoffs.
The Pelicans will now get the pick in 2022, although the protections (if there even are any) have not yet been confirmed.
That is part of the reason why the Los Angeles Lakers will likely keep this pick. The team traded its first-round pick last season alongside Danny Green to get Dennis Schroder. With no pick next year, and a lot of the future picks tied up, the Lakers would benefit from actually utilizing their first-round pick this year.
The team needs depth at certain positions and with the right pick, a rookie can provide immediate help as well as future potential. That is important not only for the team’s success but to open the door to use said potential in a package for another star down the road.
Several players make sense for the Los Angeles Lakers at 22.
The reality of the situation is that that draft landscape will change and morphe the closer we get to the draft. As it stands right now, there are certain players that will be picked in the Lakers range that would make sense for the team.
They all have something in common in that they are upperclassmen, as that guarantees they will contribute more right away than a one-and-one player this late in the draft would.