Los Angeles Lakers: Top 10 NBA Draft picks in franchise history

6. Vern Mikkelsen (SF/PF) — Territorial pick in 1949 NBA Draft

Career stats (as a Laker): 699 GP, 14.4 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 2.2 APG, 40.3 FG%, 76.6 FT%

Man, just how stacked were those 1950’s Laker teams? At one point, three eventual Hall of Famers shared the frontcourt together; we already discussed the first two, the third was Vern Mikkelsen.

Full disclosure, we admit Mikkelsen wasn’t technically a straight up draft pick (neither was the guy next up on our list), but rather a territorial pick. Allow NBA.com to explain what those were:

"“In the league’s early years, when teams were struggling to include fan bases, the draft included territorial picks. Before the start of the draft, a team could forfeit its first-round pick and instead select a player from its immediate area, presumably with a strong local following.”"

Now that we’re squared away with the intricacies of the NBA Draft prior to 1965, we can get into how good Mikkelsen was. During his time with the Minneapolis Lakers, the 3/4 swing-man made six All-Star teams, received All-NBA Second Team honors four times and hoisted four championship trophies.

He’s not a guy many think of when discussing the league’s earliest stars, but he absolutely merits consideration as one of the first great forwards ever.

(Also, next time you’re talking basketball history and want to stump one of your friends with a fascinating bit of trivia, just ask them who the all-time leader in games-fouled-out-of is. There’s little chance they’ll know it was the late, great Mikkelsen, who fouled out 127 times in his career.)