5 Surprises From The 2015 NBA Draft
By Gary Gorski
Larry Nance Jr.
Taken No. 27 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers
2015-16 NBA Stats: 20.1 MPG, 5.5 PPG, 0.7 APG, 5.0 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG
To say it was a surprise when Larry Nance Jr.’s name was called with the 27th pick in last June’s draft might be an understatement.
Despite being the son of a great NBA player and his own achievements at Wyoming, some outlets like nbadraft.net predicted Nance would be lucky to be drafted at all. To add to the surprise of the pick the Lakers had just drafted their power forward of the future last season in Julius Randle.
Nance would begin earning minutes right from the opening game and appeared in 63 games for the Lakers. Nance even took the starting job for 22 games midway through the season as the Lakers struggled for answers.
Nance posted three double-doubles in his time as a starter, including 17 points and 11 rebounds against Memphis and an impressive 15-point, 14-rebound effort in a win against Phoenix.
Nance, however, faces much uncertainty heading into next season. Nobody knows how new Lakers coach Luke Walton will choose to deploy him.
There could be minutes available at the small forward position, but Nance will have to work very hard this summer to become an outside shooting threat. He only made one of the 10 three-point shots he attempted this season.
Otherwise it would seem that he’s destined to be a backup for Randle next season.
Next: No. 40 Josh Richardson