Lakers Rumors: Three routes the Lakers can take with the second pick
By Jason Reed
Keep the selection – draft a point guard
The first route the Lakers can take with their draft pick is the most simple one; keep the pick and draft a great young point guard. While it is up to debate on who they should draft between Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz, and De’Aaron Fox, the debate seems to have a clear answer. Lonzo Ball, despite his crazy father, is exactly the player the Lakers need.
I will be honest before I had mentioned that the Lakers would pass on Ball. The Lakers, being the most prestigious franchise in basketball, seemingly would not want an off the court distraction like LaVar Ball. However, Magic Johnson himself stated that LaVar would not impact the franchise’s decision if they were to draft Lonzo or not – which opens the door for number two.
Lonzo Ball is the playmaker that the Los Angeles Lakers need. Right now, the Lakers have three guys that are trying to blossom into superstars, Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, and Brandon Ingram. The last thing the Lakers need is another young player fighting for the spotlight, instead, they need a player that can make the spotlight shine brighter on the rest of the unit.
Granted, the spotlight will inevitably be on Ball as he will come out of college and be a fantastic player. Yet, it will not be because he is dropping thirty points, instead because he will be the playmaker the Lakers need. I would not be surprised to see Lonzo averaging a double-double in his rookie campaign, pushing triple-double numbers as he gets better.
Ever since his days at Chino Hills High School Lonzo Ball has seemed destined to be a Los Angeles Lakers. It looks like the stars have aligned for this to happen.