The Los Angeles Lakers could be on their way to missing the playoffs for the second straight year after LeBron James suffered a foot injury that will keep him out multiple weeks, but they are not guaranteed a lottery pick. The Pelicans have swap rights from the Anthony Davis trade, so the Lakers will get the least favorable between the two first-round picks this year.
LA’s track record in the draft is hit-and-miss. They selected Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich since 1960, and even traded for Kobe Bryant in the 1996 draft, but there have been some massive misses even with top draft choices. The franchise has placed less importance on the draft since signing LeBron James.
When the Lakers have missed, they have struck out completely in many cases. Here is a look at their all-time draft bust starting five starting with a recent point guard that was selected second overall.
Lakers all-time bust PG: Lonzo Ball
The Lakers draft Lonzo Ball second overall in 2017. They were in the middle of the longest playoff drought in franchise history, and Los Angeles desperately needed a star player. D’Angelo Russell showed some promise, but the Lakers traded him when they drafted Ball.
Ball got the keys to the offense as a rookie, and he showed plenty of promise in his two years in LA before being sent to New Orleans as part of the package for Anthony Davis.
Still, he was not living up to the hype of the second overall pick. He has played more than 60 games just once in his six years in the NBA, and the 6’6 point guard will miss the entire 2022-2023 season because of a knee injury. There are serious questions about Ball ever playing again after this season’s uncertainty.
The Lakers missed on Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, Lauri Markkanen, and Jarrett Allen by selecting Ball second overall. All six of those players have already been All-Stars, and two are unquestioned superstars. It was a massive miss by the Lakers, but the franchise salvaged it by trading Lonzo Ball in the package that brought back AD, who helped LA win the championship in 2020.
Lakers all-time bust SG: Javaris Crittenton
In 2007, the Lakers were five years removed from their three-peat, and they had just lost in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year. LA was hoping to get Kobe Bryant some extra help in the backcourt when they selected Javaris Crittenton with the 19th overall pick. The 6’5 guard was outstanding in his lone season at Georgia Tech, and the Lakers believed the teenager could reach his ceiling.
Crittenton played just 22 games with the Lakers as a rookie before being shipped to Memphis in the Pau Gasol trade. He averaged 3.3 points and 1.0 rebound in 7.8 minutes per game during his time with the Lakers. It took Crittenton, two first-round picks, Marc Gasol, Kwame Brown, and Aaron McKie to land the future Hall of Famer in Los Angeles.
Things went from bad to worse from that point on for Crittenton. He lasted just two years in the NBA and had an infamous incident in Washington where the 6’5 wing and Gilbert Arenas pulled guns on each other in the locker room. Crittenton joined a gang following his NBA career, and he is currently serving 23 years in prison for manslaughter in connection with a shooting.
Javaris Crittenton was a bust on the court, and he has to go down as one of the Lakers’ worst draft picks in franchise history.
Lakers all-time bust SF: Travis Grant
The Lakers reached the NBA Finals in ten of 15 years dating back to their days in Minnesota from 1959 to 1973, but they only won one championship. Boston dominated that era by winning 11 rings with the late Bill Russell, and the Lakers were often the second-best team.
Grant was the final selection in the first round in 1973 at 13th overall, but he lasted just 36 games with the Lakers before leaving for the ABA. The 6’7 forward averaged 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 4.4 minutes per game during his time in LA.
The hit rate on prospects was lower in the 1970s, and the draft featured 18 partial rounds. It was an entirely different league, but the Lakers missed the playoffs in two of the next three years for the only time in franchise history before 2014. Missing on the final pick of the first round certainly did not help.
Grant was a bust, especially when considering 14 players selected after him had a higher career value over replacement player (VORP). The Machine Gun did not live up to that nickname with the Lakers, but he did spend 30 years after his basketball career as a teacher and school administrator before retiring in 2010.
Lakers all-time bust PF: Kenny Carr
Carr was the sixth overall pick in the 1977 draft. The NBA had expanded to 22 teams, and the Lakers were back in the playoffs for the first time since 1974 before being bounced in the conference finals. Carr had just helped Team USA win an Olympic gold medal in 1976, and LA was excited about his potential.
Things just never worked out with the Lakers. He broke both his feet in his first two years in the league, and Carr never found consistent starters minutes in LA. He averaged 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game during his two-plus seasons with the Lakers.
Carr did play in the NBA for a decade where he found success with the Cavaliers and Blazers before retiring in 1987 at the age of 31. He never lived up to his draft hype, especially during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, but that should not take away from his accomplishments.
The Lakers traded Carr to the Cleveland Cavaliers for two second-round draft picks in 1979. He never got a full chance to prove himself, which made his departure the best avenue for both sides at that moment. He played his best basketball in Portland where he averaged 12.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game over five seasons.
Lakers all-time bust C: Earl Jones
The Lakers were looking for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s eventual replacement when they drafted Jones in 1984. The future Hall of Famer had just turned 37 years old, and there were no guarantees about how many years he had left in the tank. LA had lost in the NBA Finals two straight years and had already won two championships in the 1980s. They were hoping to find another big man that could play off Magic Johnson for the next decade-plus.
Jones played just two games as a rookie and a total of seven minutes with the Lake Show before they sold his rights to the Spurs in 1985. The seven-footer appeared in just 12 more games in the NBA before heading overseas. Jones spent some time in the CBA, and he would go on to have a decade-long professional career, but only 14 games came in the NBA.
The Lakers made out just fine too. They won the championship in 1985, 1987, and 1988. Kareem played five more years and was an All-Star in every season. He was the NBA’s all-time leading scorer until LeBron James broke his mark in 2023.
The purple and gold have not always nailed their draft picks, and they will have another key selection to make this summer. LA could use another rotation piece around LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but will the Lakers be able to find one in the mid-to-late first round? Stay tuned to find out.