Los Angeles Lakers Have Big Assets In Late Picks

By Chris Walton | May 23, 2015

Jul 29, 2014; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak at a press conference to announce Byron Scott (not pictured) as coach at Toyota Sports Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

The Los Angeles Lakers have secured the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, taking care of the tallest order of business for the team this summer. Possibilities range from bringing Jahlil Okafor to continue the Laker tradition of dominant bigs or allowing D’Angelo Russell to serve as heir apparent to Kobe Bryant.

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Whichever direction the team goes, it’s sure to place them back on the path of relevance, something that Laker fans have no reason to complain about at this point. Even with such a high pick, the team still has plenty of decisions to make as they go into the rest of the draft.

Los Angeles was also fortunate enough to walk away with the 27th and 34th selections, as well. Pundits may scoff at these pairs of picks, but in a league where players like Jimmy Butler (30th pick in 2011), Draymond Green (35th pick in 2012), and Rudy Gobert (27th pick in 2013) have fallen within this range, there is value to be had there.

Each of those players has certainly made big impacts with their current squads. The Lakers will certainly have an opportunity to bring in some major talent with the right scouting there.

Just as this pick can prove to bring on-court value, it can also be used as an intriguing asset to other teams. The Lakers should be aware of the production that you can find in those spots, and so should the other 29 NBA franchises. This brings up the thought that maybe Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak could be working the phones on draft night.

In a recent interview with John Ireland of Time Warner Sports, Kupchak expressed his concern of bringing in so many young players and how it affects their stance with the picks:

"“If we did draft three players and they are all on our roster that would be four rookies (including Julius Randle from injury). We have a lot of options, whether to trade picks, keep picks, or stash a guy in Europe.”"

The team wants to improve upon its previous seasons of the worst records in franchise history. The playoffs will be a long shot, but becoming one of the up-and-coming teams in the Western Conference presents a definite chance. Perhaps the team is prepared to ship them out for a player, along with one of their own.

Contracts like Nick Young’s or that of Jordan Hill would be ideal to move.

If the team elects to just keep their selections, then there are good young players that they can use. We talked about possibly bringing in Justin Anderson, a candidate for their empty hole at small forward. The draft will also feature Rondae Hollis-Jefferson or a point guard like Tyus Jones. The team plans to bring in a plethora of players, according to Serena Winters of LakersNation.com:

Mitch Kupchak said in addition to the top picks, he expects to “bring in 50-60 players” to workout that could go in the 27-34 range (on TWC)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) May 20, 2015

The most important things are just the possibilities of what the Lakers can do. It’s been a while since the team had these kinds of good problems. A trade up to get a player that may be on the team’s radar would be the likely scenario for them. It doesn’t seem to be any teams willing to part with a piece that the team may desire for the picks that they have.

Of course, this assumption is unsafe to make, but the Lakers’ brass will get the final word on June 25.

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