NBA Insiders Amin Elhassan and Bradford Doolittle break down the draft profile, needs and potential picks of the 14 teams eligible for the NBA draft lottery this year. With some help from Chad Ford's Big Board, we take a look at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Personnel needs: SG, SF, PF, C
Major need: Help at the wing has to be a priority. Kobe Bryant's contract status (he's in the last year of his current deal), advancing age and health concerns over the last two seasons make him a huge question mark, and while Nick Young is an entertaining sideshow, he can hardly be considered a solid solution on the wing.
Quiet need: Despite above-expected contributions from several players on the front line and the return of Julius Randle, the Lakers are still thin up front and could use some help.
Not a need: I'm not writing his ticket to Springfield just yet, but the Lakers uncovered a gem in the second round in Jordan Clarkson, who came on strong in the second half of the season. He's not a pure point guard, and I wouldn't turn away more qualified (and talented) applicants should they present themselves, but Clarkson is solid enough for the time being.
Depth chart
Jobs in jeopardy: Only four players (Bryant, Young, Randle and Ryan Kelly) have fully guaranteed deals for next season, but Clarkson, Robert Sacre and Tarik Black (non-guaranteeds) should all expect to be back as well. Jordan Hill has a team option for $9 million; expect that to be declined if the Lakers can't find a taker at draft time for the last year of his deal. Ed Davis has a player option for $1.1 million; expect that to be declined and for him to receive a considerable pay bump, whether it's in Los Angeles or elsewhere. Almost every other player is expendable.
Don't mess with it: There's little to preserve about this Lakers roster, but obviously you want the two rookies to have as much of an opportunity to grow as possible. Again, you wouldn't pass up surefire talent at either of their positions, but shouldn't be afraid to trust them.
What free agency could solve
Free agency, long an area of refuge for the Lakers, has been a bit of a dry spot. Theoretically, they can vastly upgrade their wing and center positions with any number of available free agent options, both restricted (Jimmy Butler, Tristan Thompson) and unrestricted (Danny Green, DeAndre Jordan), but that only is true under the assumption that players willingly want to join a losing situation.
How they draft
Where they draft well: Mitch Kupchak has been the lead basketball voice for the Lakers since 2000, during which time they've drafted in the lottery twice -- taking Andrew Bynum 10th overall in 2005 and Julius Randle seventh last season. Overall, Kupchak has managed to add solid contributing players near the bottom of the first round/top of the second round, like Jordan Farmar, Ronny Turiaf and Luke Walton; he did it again last year with Clarkson, whose rights he purchased on draft day from the Washington Wizards. Ironically, Kupchak's best draft pick never played for the Lakers: Marc Gasol was the 48th overall selection in 2007 but ended up getting his rights traded for his older brother a year later.
Where they don't draft well: Until acquiring Clarkson last year, Kupchak had not drafted a single rotation player who has suited up in the purple and gold other than Ryan Kelly since 2007.
Three best fits
Karl-Anthony Towns (Chad Ford Big Board ranking: No. 1): What's the point of having the fourth-worst record if you can't dream of going to the top? Towns could give the Lakers the sort of back-line building block necessary to run an effective team defense without being a non-entity on the offensive end. He's got good feel, moves his feet well defensively away from the paint and is a good shot-blocker, with a blossoming offensive tool kit to boot. In other words, there's a reason this guy sits atop many mock drafts.
D'Angelo Russell (No. 4): Remember when I said Clarkson was solid, but that shouldn't preclude the Lakers from passing up surefire talent? Russell is that type of talent. One of the best playmakers in college, I love Russell's size and his ability to play either guard spot. In a way, he and Clarkson could be a deadly combo in the backcourt as two big guards who can handle and play off it.
Justise Winslow (No. 6): Winslow is one of those talents who, in a few years, could be regarded as underrated going through this draft process. An elite defensive player on the perimeter with a relentless motor, he's the kind of player you want when trying to build a new culture out of the rubble of failure. His offensive game will only grow on the next level, where he has more space to operate and his skill level rises.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (No. 24): The Lakers also own Houston's first round pick (27th overall), and Hollis-Jefferson would make a lot of sense here as a player with tremendous defensive ability, though he's raw on the offensive end.
It's a good draft if ...
What they must accomplish: The Lakers' pick is top-five protected, so if it drops out of this range, it heads to Philadelphia. Obviously, walking away from the worst season in franchise history without a choice pick to show for it would be disastrous. Should the basketball gods frown on them on lottery day, they still have the Rockets' first-round pick to fall back on (acquired in the Jeremy Lin deal), so they still have an opportunity to walk away with some talent.
Additional goals: The Lakers have the 34th overall pick as well, a choice spot for talent, especially international players who can't come over immediately. However, a different approach might be to take a page from the Oklahoma City Thunder playbook and draft-and-stash a domestic collegiate player with their D-League affiliate team.