NBA Draft Lottery: The future of the Lakers relies on ping pong balls
By Jamaal Artis
This year’s NBA Draft lottery will undoubtedly shape the future of the Lakers franchise.
The day has arrived where the last vestiges of the failed Jim Buss era could rear its ugly head. Sorry to get poetic but it’s hard not to when The Los Angeles Lakers have become more of a tragic Shakespearean play and less of an NBA franchise. This is what makes the NBA Draft lottery so important.
Instead of worrying about the “Ides if March,” the Lakers have to deal with the “Ides of May.” Or is it the ghosts of July 2012, when the Lakers traded protected future first round picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a for a 37-year-old Steve Nash. You all know the story, a super team of Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, and Nash falls apart beginning with a leg and nerve injury to Nash and a torn Achilles for Bryant.
After getting swept in the first round of the 2013 playoffs, the Lakers fail to re-sign Howard that summer and they’ve been a lottery team ever since. This year’s draft lottery is the most perilous for the Lakers, in order to keep their pick the Lakers have to fall in the top three of the picks.
The Lakers have a 46.9 percent chance of staying in the top three, and a slim chance of getting the number one pick at 15.6%. So while the talking heads are debating whether the Lakers should grab Lonzo Ball and his baggage (i.e. his dad Lavar Ball), people should be reminded it’s more likely that the Lakers lose the pick than keep it.
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Falling out of the top three would be disastrous it only for this year but also the future. The Lakers would lose their 2019 1st round pick as well, (you have to wonder who can still defend Jim Buss) to the Orlando Magic stemming from their Howard trade.
If the Lakers keep their 2017 pick, then it is no longer a protected pick next year and they would only lose two second round picks to Orlando. With the dearth of talent at the top of this years draft, losing the first rounder this year and then another in 2019 could send the Lakers to rebuilding hell for a long time.
If the Lakers do lose the pick, the brand new brain trust of president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka may need to accelerate their plans to get the Lakers back in contention. Without a chance at a top three pick, the Lakers may use their assists and money to lure top NBA players instead of waiting for their team to continue to develop.
Of course having those first round picks in 2017 and 2019 would be better in case the Lakers do want to use them as assets, especially with potential free agents available like Paul George and Russell Westbrook that can be brought in when paired with another star.
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Regardless of the past and the future the draft lottery is out of the Lakers control, the only thing they can hope for is that their all-time franchise player brings them more magic tonight during the NBA Draft lottery.