Adam Silver Talks Lakers, NBA Draft Lottery Changes, 1-and-Done Rule and More
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver appeared on ESPN's Get Up! on Wednesday to address several topics, including the recent tumult within the Los Angeles Lakers organization.
One day after ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes published a piece that featured many within the Lakers organization taking shots at general manager Rob Pelinka and former President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson, Silver said:
"The league's position is that we have tremendous confidence in Jeanie Buss. Her family are some of the longest-standing owners in the NBA and one of the most successful ownership groups in all of major league sports history. ... I know Jeanie knows how to manage a team. Sure, when things start to go wrong a lot of fingers get pointed, people like to pile on, but they'll figure it out. ... Jeanie will get it together."
L.A. is coming off a 37-45 season and its sixth consecutive campaign without a playoff appearance despite signing LeBron James last offseason. However, acquiring Anthony Davis in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans or adding a star in free agency such as Kyrie Irving or Kemba Walker could change things quickly.
Los Angeles also owns the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, where Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver, Virginia's DeAndre Hunter or Vanderbilt's Darius Garland should be available.
The new draft lottery system saw several teams with low chances of picking in the top five move up, and the Lakers were among them. The Pelicans also jumped up to surprisingly nab the No. 1 overall pick and a chance to select Duke star Zion Williamson.
Silver praised the new lottery system:
"It worked the way we hoped. ... You could argue that in terms of teams' incentive to rebuild, they're clearly still there. The Knicks were undergoing, in essence, a sort of rebuilding program, and they ended up with the third pick in the draft, so I don't think that's all bad. ... The most important change I think is gonna demonstrate to fans in markets that they should stop rooting for teams to lose. ... I think hopefully we've turned the corner on that."
The New York Knicks are likely to land Duke's RJ Barrett with the third overall pick, and while he should develop into an impact player, finishing with the NBA's worst record did not guarantee them the top pick.
Given the risk/reward nature of tanking, it likely won't be eliminated completely, but the 2019 draft lottery is a sign that losing doesn't always lead to a major victory.
In other draft-related news, Silver said he is negotiating with the National Basketball Players Association regarding the age-eligibility rule, with an eye toward allowing players to go directly from high school to the NBA in 2022.
Until then, Silver expressed hope that the G League can become a stepping stone for players who want to play professionally for a year prior to entering the NBA rather than spending time in college.
