Ranking Los Angeles Lakers' Best Options with the No. 2 Pick in 2015 NBA Draft

Although the euphoria of winning the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NBA draft needn't subside, the Los Angeles Lakers' post-lottery honeymoon phase is officially over.

The race to make the most of their good fortune is on.

No draft prospect is off limits for the Lakers. They're at the mercy of what the Minnesota Timberwolves do, but there is no surefire option at No. 1. And that means none of the incoming talent can be ruled out by default.

Shopping the selection is even an option. The Lakers aren't grit-it-out types. They have always valued established talent over draft-day crapshoots. Kobe Bryant is also on the last year of his current contract and will turn 37 before next season starts. The pressure to inject meaning into his should-be swan song is real.

Subsequent options will be presented with all that in mind while singling out the most popular scenarios. They're also contingent upon the included players still being available. 

Roster needs, team fit, future flexibility and a return to playoff contention soon, if not next season, are all factors. The absolute best options will be those that most address every area of concern.

5. Trade Pick for Established Talent

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Full disclosure: Trading the second overall selection shouldn't be an option. But the Lakers are the Lakers, so it's an option.

General manager Mitch Kupchak has already admitted in a radio appearance that the Lakers are "fielding calls from teams interested in the pick," per ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes. Knowing how tightly their future is bound to cap plasticity and the search for another superstar, those inquiries come as no surprise.

As Kupchak told Bleacher Report's Howard Beck: "We don’t have...the time to methodically and slowly build through the draft."

If the Lakers plan on dealing their pick—the actual player drafted since, by rule, they cannot trade consecutive first-round selections—swinging for the fences is a must. There can be no settling for a second-tier package, one consisting of multiple impact players who nudge their needle ever so slightly in the right direction.

Much like their approach to free agency last summer, the Lakers are in superstar-or-bust mode. If acquiring an established franchise cornerstone in return proves impossible, they have no choice but to pull the ripcord on any and all negotiations.

And by "franchise cornerstone," we're referring not only to someone who helps the Lakers infuse purpose into Bryant's 2015-16 crusade, but who can lead them into the post-Kobe era as early as 2016, serving as the solution to their superstar problem for years to come.

Think along the lines of DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe. Someone like Carmelo Anthony (no-trade clause) would be the bare minimum for which they can settle.

Anything less and even thinking about trading a pick this high would be pointless.

4. Take Emmanuel Mudiay

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Chatter to the contrary in mind, Kupchak told ESPN's Colin Cowherd during an appearance on ESPN Radio's The Herd (via Holmes) that it "looks as though we’ll use our pick this year." Rejoice. Be glad. Plan your June 25 draft parties accordingly.

Just don't start purchasing any custom-made jerseys yet.

Duke's Jahlil Okafor and Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns are widely considered this year's consensus No. 1 and No. 2 picks, though not necessarily in that order. But Kupchak and friends could go a different route.

Sources told ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin that the Lakers aren't "locked" into Okafor or Towns and could instead draft a point guard in Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay, who played in China last season.

Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding thinks Mudiay is the obvious choice in that scenario. As a pass-first floor general who gets into the lane on command and collapses defenses with his ability to finish at or around the rim, he ranks as a great setup man for the forever-overtaxed Bryant.

But the Lakers' next draft pick shouldn't even be remotely about Bryant. Not unless he plans on fronting a title contender for the next five-plus years. Drafting to accommodate him and his prehistoric, hero-ball-heavy, mid-range-happy play style won't do the franchise any favors in the long run.

Mudiay has superstar appeal, to be sure. If the comparisons to John Wall are even half-accurate, he'll be a reliable starter and leave Los Angeles set at the NBA's deepest position for seven or more years.

By Kupchak's own admission, though, the Lakers aren't in the business of biding time. Learning curves at the point guard position are steep already, and Mudiay is more of a project than Russell given his shaky jumper.

And, for the record, if the Lakers are trying to think about fit alongside Bryant, they can do better than Mudiay. His ball-dominant play style—he posted a usage rate above 29 percent in China, per RealGM—conflicts with that of No. 24, who has never been much of an stage-left scorer.

3. Select Jahlil Okafor

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For a highly touted draft prospect, Okafor is an enigma. His footwork and polish in the post are undeniable, but his crummy free-throw shooting (51 percent) and defensive deficiencies remain conspicuous red flags.

What, pray tell, will prevent Okafor from living in infamy as a top-two bust? David Nurse argued in his favor for HoopsHype: 

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At Duke, Jahlil spent 53.4 percent of his offensive touches dominating on the low block. Most high-level post players are able to use a few go-to moves effectively on a consistent basis in the post, but only a rare breed are able to score from virtually anywhere in the post effectively. Okafor falls into that class:

Left block score rate - 55.7%
Right block score rate – 53.4%
Flash middle score rate – 63.6%

And Okafor doesn't just have one low-post move to go to in these situations. He allocates his moves evenly and effectively among right shoulder and left shoulder hooks, power drop steps, face up Tim Duncan-esque jumpers, counter move up-and-unders, quick spins, and baby step away fades. Okafor has the full arsenal in the post, a skill set and foot work mastery that has many scouts drawing comparisons to a Phi Slamma Jamma alum Hakeem the Dream.

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All of that sounds good. Great, even. The Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon corollaries give you goosebumps, as well as a sudden desire to craft a 2018 Larry O'Brien Trophy out of In-N-Out Burger patties and buns.

Here's the thing: The NBA isn't a post-up league anymore. Eight teams ran back-to-the-basket sets at least 10 percent of the time during the regular season, only one of which ranked inside the top 12 of offensive efficiency (Portland Trail Blazers).

Any big the Lakers draft will preferably be able to score outside the paint, something Okafor cannot do. He didn't attempt a single three-pointer at Duke, and nearly 62 percent of his shot attempts came at the rim, according to Hoop-Math.com.

Good luck establishing any semblance of spacing with Bryant, Clarkson, Randle and Okafor playing in the same lineup. Clarkson's 31.4 percent clip from deep checks in as the best among those four last season.

Factor in his inferior shot-blocking prowess, and Okafor, while a talent the Lakers must consider, isn't an ideal anchor for the post-Bryant era. He isn't even an ideal fit for the modern-day NBA.

2. Draft D'Angelo Russell

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If the Lakers decide to go small, Russell is the pick, even over Mudiay. Heck, if it's a matter of picking between Okafor and Russell, the latter is still the obvious choice.

Taking Russell would indeed cut into Jordan Clarkson's playing time. But point guard remained the Lakers' weakest position, according to 82games.com, even after accounting for his late-season rise. They cannot yet be sure that their floor general of the future is already on the roster.

Besides, at 6'5", with an ability to play off the ball, Russell allows the Lakers to trot out lineups that feature both him and Clarkson in the backcourt. The former can defend opposing 2s, and his lethal three-point stroke (41.1 percent at Ohio State) enables him to play alongside any kind of guard, be it Clarkson or the even more ball-dominant Bryant.

Really, the Lakers shouldn't look at this as drafting a point guard. They should look at Russell as a Manu Ginobili in training—ill-advised yet totally wonderful pull-up threes and all. As Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal wrote:

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Not only are both prospects smooth lefties with great body control, but they each possess plenty of craftiness when they have the ball in their hands. Plus, they're perfectly comfortable lining up at either guard slot and serving as primary distributors, squeezing the rock into tight spaces and seeing plays develop mentally before they do physically. 

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Playmaking is perhaps the most underrated aspect of Russell's game. He slings one-handed bullets to slashing wings just like Stephen Curry, and his perfectly placed bounce passes into the paint rival those of Marc Gasol. Seriously.

Thin on athleticism, speed and three-point shooting, the Lakers need a versatile scorer who can up the ante for what was a bottom-eight offense last season. And if they inevitably decide that versatile scorer also needs to quarterback the entire show, both immediately and after Bryant retires, the pick will have been made for them.

Russell would be their guy.

1. Snatch Karl-Anthony Towns

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With the Timberwolves "genuinely" torn between selecting Okafor and Towns, according to ESPN.com's Chad Ford, the Lakers have only one course of action ahead of the June 25 draft: hope Minnesota falls more in love with Okafor.

Towns is the best option for the Lakers, and it isn't even kind-of-sort-of close. He falls more on the project side of things, but that's only because his ceiling is so unbelievably high. 

More than half of Towns' shot attempts were jumpers at Kentucky, according to Hoop-Math.com, making him an instant upgrade over Okafor in today's NBA. He has shown three-point range on occasion and should, with time, develop into a dominant pick-and-roll threat who can torch opposing defenses off the catch or while slinking toward the rim.

Big men like him can play with anyone. He doesn't need the ball in his hands or impede Los Angeles' ability to generate spacing, and his 11.5 percent block rate ranked second in the country among all freshman who played a minimum of 500 minutes.

That Towns managed to still fill the box score at Kentucky despite coach John Calipari's platoon rotations says a lot. He tallied 10.3 rebounds, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in just over 21 minutes per game, showcasing extensive promise in every possible department—distributing from the elbow included.

Hand Towns more playing time, and his line will look starkly different. His 19.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per 40 minutes are an accurate look at his big-picture impact.

Best of all, he won't limit the Lakers' free-agent option.

To the contrary, Towns is an offseason selling point. He won't cost incoming superstars touches and is unequivocally capable of anchoring an entire defense by his own, long, shot-swatting hands. And that's a running mate star free agents such as Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge can enjoy playing beside.

Towns, in turn, belongs in Los Angeles more than any other prospect—so long as Minnesota doesn't decide otherwise.

Stats courtesy of Sports-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise cited.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @danfavale.