The Los Angeles Lakers had quite the 24-hour span, as they managed to preempt the long-term signing of dynamic guard Austin Reaves by agreeing to a four-year contract extension by nailing it in the 2026 NBA Draft. LA moved up one spot in the order to select Baylor wing Cameron Carr at No. 24 overall, which is lower than many expected him to be selected.
The Lakers' trade up with the New York Knicks, who traded down multiple times in order to get more room to avoid the second tax apron. Essentially, the Lakers gave up a few dollars in cash considerations to get a better pick and prevent anyone else from nabbing Carr. Moving up for no cost is always a winning formula.
The Clippers, meanwhile, used the No. 5 overall pick on Illinois guard Keaton Wagler, who is an inferior athlete and overall scorer to two guards with more ball-handling upside in Brooklyn's Mikel Brown Jr. and Sacramento's Darius Acuff Jr. just a few picks after him. Armed with much worse capital, LA may have come out with the best value.
Lakers stand out as winners from 2026 NBA Draft after Cameron Carr selection
Carr, who transferred after his stint as a seldom-used backup at Tennessee, averaged 18.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for the Bears this season. Carr making 37% of his 3-pointers on six attempts per game shows that he is capable of both taking and making a high volume of shots from beyond the arc, which is always needed in a JJ Redick offense.
Carr is a tremendous pick for both the short-term and long-term. In the immediate future, any team that is building with LeBron at the tip of their spear needs shooters around him. Carr is a better athlete than Dalton Knecht, which could give him the tools he needs to succeed where the former first-rounder started to fail during his second pro season.
Once James leaves or retires, the same philosophy can help Doncic continue to operate the offense in the heliocentric fashion he requires to be the best version of himself. Carr's higher athletic upside than many find-and-replace 3-point shooters can give him more of a ceiling.
Being able to land someone of Carr's caliber, even with the concerns about his lack of strength and limited upside as a defender and passer, while giving up as little as possible in a trade up, shows that Pelinka, for all of his faults as an executive, is still fairly skilled at finding value later in the Draft.
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