Lakers Draft Rumors: L.A. Won’t Guarantee Lonzo Ball They Will Select Him

Trevor Lane
2 Min Read

The Los Angeles Lakers are hard at work preparing for June 22nd’s NBA Draft. With both the second and 28th overall pick, Los Angeles will have an opportunity to add at least two young prospects to their roster. After missing the playoffs for four straight seasons, most are pinning their hopes on the second pick becoming a star, with Lonzo Ball, Josh Jackson, and De’Aaron Fox being the most likely prospects to wind up being selected.

Of the three, Ball appears to be the favorite. The UCLA product has campaigned heavily to wind up in purple and gold, and most draft experts see him as the second-best player in the draft behind Washington’s Markelle Fultz. To some outsiders, the selection of Ball would appear to be a no-brainer, but according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, Los Angeles has declined to guarantee Ball that he will be their pick:

Of course, this time of year is filled with smokescreens as teams jockey for leverage leading into the draft. If an opposing team gets wind of a team’s draft preferences they could use that knowledge against them, such as when the Philadelphia 76ers used the Orlando Magic’s love of Elfrid Payton to force Orlando to trade a first-round pick to get him.

The Lakers could very well want to draft Ball, but they are hoping to keep opposing teams guessing all the way up until the draft in order to bring out any trade opportunities that could appear. It’s also possible that they really aren’t sold on Ball, but we won’t know for sure until their pick is in during the NBA Draft this coming Thursday.

Trevor Lane is a longtime NBA and Los Angeles Lakers fan who had the good fortune to grow up during the glory days of the Showtime Lakers, when Magic Johnson, Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and the rest ruled the Great Western Forum. He has written about basketball, soccer, fantasy sports, MMA, and even pro wrestling over the course of his career, but the spectacle that is the Lakers is his true passion. He made the leap into podcasting for Lakers Nation and provides voice-over analysis for our YouTube channel. With a who's who of stars gracing the Lakers lineup over the years, including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Pau Gasol, and many others, the Lakers always provide plenty to talk about. When he isn't writing or recording, Trevor can be found spending time with his wife and daughter or on the sidelines for one of the youth teams he coaches. Outside of the Lakers, Trevor is a supporter of the LA Galaxy, US Soccer, Dallas Cowboys, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Contact: trevor@mediumlargela.com
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