Amid the NBA playoffs the NBA Lottery draft for the non-playoff bound teams took place and with it the NBA draft order has now been determined. For the lottery teams this year's draft marks hope and optimism as he talent pool here is deemed to be considerably better than it has been in the past few years; mind you it seems like the draft pundits say this same thing every single season.
Nonetheless, the teams who are holding lottery bound picks must be looking at ways to complement their rosters, be it by using the upcoming selection or via a trade on draft day. Not every team with lottery selections are able to address their needs via the draft as there is only so much talent available at each position and since these rookie deals are guaranteed, the new incoming salary amounts must be accounted for within the team's salary cap.
As the NBA Draft approaches eDraft.com will look at each of the lottery teams and identify their needs heading into the draft as well as who might be available to fill hose teams needs. Our draft coverage won't stop there though as post-draft we will have analysis of the picks as well as report cards for each of the teams as to how they fared.
Our second 2015 NBA Draft analysis takes us to Los Angeles where we have the Lakers who are currently holding onto the second overall pick in the upcoming draft. The Lakers are certainly not where the franchise is accustomed to be being in terms of success and unfortunately for Laker fans that trend is unlikely to change over the next few seasons. The Lakers narrowly escaped the lottery with their pick in tact; however, in doing so they simply prolonged the inevitable as they owe Philadelphia a first round pick which will be top three protected for 2016 and 2017.
The Lakers don't have a very rich history when it comes to picking in the lottery. They have a total of three lottery picks to the franchises credit and those are Eddie Jones, George Lynch, Andrew Bynum and Julius Randle. Although the lottery is not a spot the Lakers have been accustomed too over the years, it is certainly one that they will be getting used to as the team's fortunes don't appear to be turning around anytime soon.
Key Pieces to Build Around:
The unfortunate thing about the Lakers is that with Kobe Bryant in his twilight years and with the upcoming season likely being his last; there are no true franchise pieces to work around in Los Angeles. The Lakers will undoubtedly be very active in free-agency as they will have to spend serious money to entice a potential franchise player. If the Lakers are confident that they could land themselves a player like Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge or Goran Dragic then maybe there would be some hope of building around those pieces. As it stands now though the Lakers could be stuck overpaying for a Rajon Rondo or potentially even the aging Dwyane Wade. There is a solid class of restricted free-agents that is headlined by the likes of Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green; however, getting either one of those guys is nothing but a pipe dream.
State of the Union - Lakers
Things are bleak in LaLa land as the Lakers managed just 21 wins on the year. Granted that season came largely without the services of Bryant; however, even with Kobe monopolizing the ball, there is no way the Lakers were a playoff team. The other downer for the purple and gold last season was that their lottery pick from last season in Julius Randle played only one game before fracturing his right fibula and missing the remainder of the season.
With so many injuries and with the season slipping away so quickly; there were a lot of young guys getting a chance to play. Of the lot it was Jordan Clarkson who emerged as an everyday type player. Clarkson finished the season with averages of 11.9 ppg, 3.5 apg and 3.2 rpg; however, over the last nine games of the season he bumped those numbers to 19.4 ppg, 6.8 apg and 4.8 rpg. Clarkson who is playing out a rookie-scale contract at league minimum is a bargain and a player who should figure well into the future plans here.
The Lakers literally need help at every position and if they can’t address some needs through free-agency then this will be another painful rebuild year. With this in mind and factoring in that this is likely to be Kobe’s swan song season; expect the Lakers to go large after Kevin Love and once that fails they will settle for the moody Rajon Rondo. This would be a mistake for the Lakers as Rondo will command big money and he won’t bring many more wins to the table. If the Lakers only manage to improve a little bit and find themselves back in the lottery next season with a draft pick higher than third overall, then that pick is immediately forfeited to Philadelphia so the Lakers either need to improve a lot here or resign themselves to a rebuild and hope for a top three pick again next season.
Draft Needs:
The Lakers would love to find a franchise player here who has superstar potential. A player who will create some excitement for the fans, sell some tickets and help fill the superstar void that will be left when Kobe finally goes. It is highly unlikely that any of those needs gets addressed here. Nonetheless, expect the Lakers to have Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns at or near the top of their draft board and they will have to consider whichever one is left after Minnesota makes their selection.
While drafting a big man is less risky, it isn’t necessarily a sexy pick that exudes Hollywood and show business. With that in mind, expect the Lakers to look long and hard at Emmanuel Mudiay who played in China last season rather than enroll in a NCAA school. Mudiay is an attacking point guard who relies on incredible athleticism to beat down defenders. His offensive game is unpolished much the same as Russell Westbrook’s used to be. He will need to work on his shooting stroke, but with daily coaching and state-of-the-art equipment and help, he will improve.
Passing up on a big man here could prove to be a bit too risky for the Lakers, but if they can add that key free-agent to help in the paint then Emmanuel Mudiay could be just the player that the Lakers need to help them transition into the post-Kobe Bryant era.