Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the last 10 first-round picks

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9. Mo Wagner (2018)

In his junior year at Michigan, Mo Wagner won Big Ten Tournament MVP and helped the Wolverines make the NCAA Tournament championship game, where they lost to Villanova.

The 6’11” stretch big man from Germany then went pro, and the Lakers chose him with the 25th pick in the 2018 draft.

After a knee injury cost him all of his rookie training camp and preseason, Wagner didn’t get much playing time in the regular season. He appeared in 43 games and averaged 4.8 points per game and couldn’t find the outside shooting touch that made him such a weapon in college.

Wagner did have some promising performances for the G-League’s South Bay Lakers, averaging 16.5 points per game for L.A.’s developmental club.

During that offseason, Wagner was traded to the Wizards in a money-saving move tied to L.A.’s acquisition of Anthony Davis.

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Wagner has had some success since then. He’s averaging 9.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season and was picked to play in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend.

In a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in November, Wagner had 30 points and 15 rebounds. He was the first NBA player to put up at least 30 and 15 while coming off the bench since Yao Ming in 2002.

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