Los Angeles Lakers Have Obvious Choice at No. 2 Pick in the 2015 NBA Draft
Forget analytics for just a minute and think about intangibles. The Los Angeles Lakers have an obvious choice in Thursday’s NBA draft with the second overall pick, and it shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what that is.
Here's my advice to Lakers management: Don’t mess it up. Keep the pick and just think big. Because this year, at this time, in this draft, big is better.
The 2015 NBA draft will take place June 25 in Brooklyn, New York, at the Barclays Center starting at 7 p.m. ET.
Take one look at the history of Lakers championship teams: What do they all have in common? A dominant big man in the middle surrounded by a couple of supporting stars and strong role players.
From George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul -Jabbar to Shaquille O'Neal, Andrew Bynum and hybrid center/forward Pau Gasol, the Lakers have prospered when anchored by a big man in the paint.
And now, with the second overall pick, the Lakers are in position to take Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns, either of whom could anchor the team's middle and be a franchise cornerstone for years to come.
Most draft experts expect the Minnesota Timberwolves to select Towns No. 1, which leaves the 6'11", 270-pound Okafor for the Lakers. These types of players don't grow on trees.
As noted by Grantland's Danny Chau:
"Okafor has had an NBA-caliber body and post game since at least his sophomore year of high school, and he has refined that part of his game to a point where it might be safe to say there haven’t been five prospects in the last decade or two who’ve had better skills down low.
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Okafor is not only an accomplished offensive threat with exceptional low-post skills, but he's also a proven winner. He has played for championship teams at every level of competition, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by one Earvin "Magic" Johnson:
Okafor seems up for the challenge of wearing purple and gold, even with the added pressure of following in the giant footsteps of a number of Hall of Fame centers who called themselves Lakers.
According to Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, Okafor said, "They were all about winning, and when they came here, they won. I'll have some big shoes to step into, but I'm ready."
Should the Wolves decide to draft Okafor at No. 1, the Lakers would waste no time in drafting the 7'0", 250-pound Towns with the second pick. Though seeing less action in Kentucky's shuttle system of star players than Okafor did at Duke, Towns still moved to the head of the draft class with an all-around game on both ends of the court.
In just 21 minutes per game, he averaged 10.3 points, seven rebounds and 2.3 blocks. He also made 81 percent of his free throws.
Towns only took eight three-point shots the entire season at Kentucky, but he has been an expert marksman from downtown since his freshman year of high school.
Per Ricky O'Donnell of SB Nation, Towns has no real weakness on either end of the floor. O'Donnell rates him way above Okafor or anyone else in the draft and believes the Wolves will take him:
"What really separates Okafor and Towns is the other side of the ball. It's generally accepted that Towns is ahead of Okafor defensively, but the gap is much wider than it appears. Towns had 34 more blocks in 321 less minutes while posting a block rate (11.5) that lapped Okafor's (4.5) more than twice over.
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According to ESPN.com, Towns met with Wolves management on Friday, with most of the team's hierarchy leaning toward the former Wildcat. Should Minnesota take him, and it probably will, the Lakers must then decide if they believe Okafor can be that anchor in the middle for years to come.
There's been a lot of chatter about a couple of high-profile guards in the draft, and the Lakers have heaped praise on both D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay.
But doesn't L.A. already have a promising young, athletic, 6'5" point guard of the future in Jordan Clarkson? He made the NBA All-Rookie first team while starting 38 games and averaging 16 points, five assists and four rebounds.
A steal at No. 46 in last year's draft, the 23-year-old Clarkson stepped into a decimated starting lineup last January and never looked back. Sure, he played on an awful team that was going nowhere, but that doesn't mean he didn't have to prove the Lakers made the right choice in purchasing his draft rights from the Washington Wizards for $1.8 million.
Clarkson played so well that in February head coach Byron Scott was moved to say that the Lakers needed to "add some pieces around him and let's see what happens," per the L.A. Times.
With Clarkson, second-year shooting guard Jabari Brown (a more-than-pleasant surprise) and veteran legend Kobe Bryant all coming back, the Lakers have more-than-adequate talent in the backcourt.
Acquiring another guard in the draft, free agency or through trade should be easier than uncovering a star center. There just aren't that many good centers at the pro or collegiate level.
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak believes a team can succeed in today's NBA with a back-to-the-basket big man such as Okafor. When asked by SI.com's Chris Mannix if he thought a low-post center could still be effective, Kupchak said:
"I think it could be. That’s not going to diminish the three-ball, which really has taken hold in our league. For a big man or a low-post center to be effective—and we’ve had a couple here in L.A.-- I’m not really making a joke, but the three-ball was around here with Shaquille and Pau and Andrew Bynum, and we were pretty effective. So the low-post player will be effective, but you really do have to surround him with the right players.
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Clearly, the Lakers GM thinks such big men as Okafor and Towns are special and worth the risk. He also acknowledges the need to get better in a lot of areas in order to support such a move.
With so much talent in this year's draft, there will always be second-guessers. Drafting a big just because he's a big and possibly losing out on a future superstar guard or small forward is of definite concern to the Lakers and Kupchak.
Doubters can point to the 1984 NBA draft, when the Houston Rockets took Hakeem Olajuwon with the No. 1 pick and the Portland Trail Blazers selected Sam Bowie at No. 2. Both passed on a junior guard from the University of North Carolina, which allowed the Chicago Bulls to draft Michael Jordan at No. 3.
Houston and Olajuwon did win two titles together, though MJ won six in Chicago and arguably became the greatest player of all time.
Kupchak is not showing his hand on just what the team will do on draft day. In typical fashion, he says nothing is off the table, ranging from selecting a big, taking a guard or possibly trading the pick.
The NBA game has certainly changed, with successful teams like the Golden State Warriors relying on stretch forwards and guards who space the floor, make three-pointers and attack the rim. The NBA Finals between the Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers demonstrated a strong argument in favor of small ball.
But rather than scrap all thoughts of employing a big, mobile center like Okafor and trying to emulate Stephen Curry and the Warriors, the Lakers should draft the player they think they can build a championship team around.
The feeling here is that the Lakers can't lose if they just continue to think big. Okafor and Towns represent two different types of centers, and the team would make roster adjustments based on whichever center it ends up with.
Drafting Okafor or Towns is a much better option than selecting a point guard and then trying to acquire a center in free agency. As good as Marc Gasol, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe are, Okafor and Towns have just as much, if not more, upside and will cost the Lakers relatively little as the team eyes the 2016 and 2017 market and its host of superior free agents.
Just imagine a Lakers roster with 6'9" power forward Julius Randle, Clarkson, Bryant and either Okafor or Towns.
Add in a top-tier free agent such as 6'9" small forward Tobias Harris (Orlando Magic) and sprinkle in developing talent like Tarik Black and Jabari Brown, and it's easy to see this Lakers team as being on a rapid road to recovery.
The Lakers have big ideas for their immediate and long-term future—all the more reason for them to think big on draft day.
Howard Ruben has also written for UPI, L.A. Times, Los Angeles magazine, Adweek, Advertising Age, and Fairchild Publications.
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