Lakers News: Who Experts Expect Team to Select with No. 4 Pick
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the odds during Tuesday's NBA draft lottery and have the No. 4 pick as a result.
Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated noted the Purple and Gold had a 2.8 percent change of jumping from the No. 11 to No. 4 pick, but that is exactly what happened. The question now is what they will do with that pick, given the chance to add a foundational piece to the young core surrounding LeBron James.
Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com projected the Lakers to select Vanderbilt freshman Darius Garland even though he played a mere five games during his one collegiate season because of a knee injury. Givony pointed to his "ability to operate at different speeds, handle the ball on a string and make pull-up jumpers from difficult vantage points."
He also suggested Garland would fit in well next to James and Lonzo Ball because he can create his own shot and take some of the offensive pressure off the King's shoulders.
Elsewhere, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, Woo and Ben Standing of NBC Sports all believe the Lakers will select Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver.
Culver helped lead the Red Raiders to the national championship game. He poured in 31 points during a win over Iowa State that clinched a share of the Big 12 regular-season title and averaged 18.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists a night during the NCAA tournament run.
Tech lost to Virginia in the national final, and Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, The Ringer and Drew Packham of NBA.com all envisioned the Lakers picking De'Andre Hunter from those champion Cavaliers. It should be noted Packham's piece was a consensus of mock drafts more than his own projections.
Hunter scored 27 points all while guarding Culver in the title game. His ability to shine in the biggest moment college basketball has to offer suggests he would be comfortable playing in the Los Angeles spotlight, and his defensive versatility means he could guard the opponent's best swing forward instead of James.
Of course, there's always the possibility Los Angeles trades the No. 4 pick.
James will turn 35 years old in December, and there could be motivation to maximize the win-now window in the final seasons of his prime by landing someone like Anthony Davis. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said the team's biggest offseason priority is to "reengage" with the New Orleans Pelicans on Davis trade talks now that David Griffin is the latter's executive vice president of basketball operations.
The No. 4 pick is much more enticing of a trade chip than the No. 11 one would have been, and the Lakers still have a young core to draw from with Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart.
There is a wide range of possibilities, but Los Angeles is sitting in a better position than the odds suggested it would be entering Tuesday's lottery.
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