The Los Angeles Lakers season has officially come to a close and it is time for us here at Lake Show Life to turn our focus towards the team’s offseason moves. The first step in the offseason for the Lakers is the 2021 NBA Draft.
At the time of writing this the Lakers still have their first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. The Lakers have not made an actual first-round pick since the 2018 NBA Draft, when they picked Moritz Wagner.
The Lakers could, of course, trade the selection like they did last year. While the Steipen Rule technically keeps the Lakers from trading picks in consecutive years, it can be the classic trade where it is agreed in principle beforehand and the drafted rookie is traded after the draft. That is what happened with the Schroder trade last offseason.
However, with most of the Lakers’ picks tied up from the Anthony Davis trade in the next few years, the Lakers should be inclined to use the pick this year to add developmental talent that can help right away and be part of something in the future.
And at 22, the Los Angeles Lakers could see a lottery-worthy player fall into their lap.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in a nice spot as there could be some really exciting players that fall for whatever reason. Of course, the fact that they fall could be used as a bad sign but we see it every single year: there are players who were fringe lottery players that fell for various reasons.
The one thing we know to expect with the draft is the unexpected. These are by no means consensus top prospects, but they are players that very well could go in the lottery, but also could fall to LA at 22.