After a lot of speculation, the Lakers had a pretty conventional, uncontroversial and uneventful Thursday at the NBA Draft, and that's a good thing.
They used the 17th pick to take Indiana guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, a (barely) 20-year old combo player who excels in the mid-range and in the pick and roll, and critically has both good length (6'6" in shoes) and instincts to have a shot to hold his own as a defender in his rookie season. It's unlikely the pick is meant to hedge against losing D'Angelo Russell in free agency - asking a rookie to soak up that responsibility on a team with aspirations isn't fair - but that doesn't meant the Lakers wouldn't like him to play. (And might need him to, should Dennis Schröder prove too expensive to bring back.)
In the second round (40th pick - LA traded up earlier in the day to get there), the Lakers selected Maxwell Lewis, a 6'7" wing who managed to put up good numbers on a terrible Pepperdine team, showing real potential as a 3-and-D type. Given the Lakers' track record in the second round, there's reason to believe Lewis has a solid NBA career ahead of him.
Both guys, for what it's worth, generally were graded out in mock drafts as above where the Lakers selected them, so at the least they got good value.
Meanwhile, Chris Paul was traded to Golden State on Thursday, eliminating the possibility of him being a free agent this summer, and by extension ending up on the Lakers. More signs that Russell will be back.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: The Lakers take Jalen Hood-Schifino in Round 1.
SEGMENT 2: Scouting Hood-Schifino, and Max Lewis (Round 2).
SEGMENT 3: Just because the Lakers didn't make a trade on Draft night doesn't mean one won't come later.
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