Los Angeles Lakers 2018 NBA Draft profile: Aaron Holiday

The Los Angeles Lakers have two former UCLA Bruins in Lonzo Ball and could add his teammate, Aaron Holiday, in the 2018 NBA Draft.

The Los Angeles Lakers currently have two local college athletes in Lonzo Ball and Travis Wear. Both of which attended UCLA. And while Wear and Ball were never teammates at UCLA, the Los Angeles Lakers have the chance to draft Ball’s former teammate, and fellow point guard, Aaron Holiday.

Holiday is the most intriguing prospect coming out of UCLA and is one of the most interesting point guards in the entire draft class. While he is not as praised as his peers and has a ceiling of a late first-rounder, Holiday could turn into something special in the league.

Last season in his junior season with UCLA, Holiday averaged 20.3 points, 5.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Holiday shot 46.1 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.

And that is Holiday’s best asset: shooting and scoring the basketball. Holiday is a proficient shooter from around the court and is especially useful off of pick and rolls. Holiday can either gain separation with a pick to splash a three or can get to the basket, where he has a soft touch that allows him to finish at the rim proficiently.

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Three-point shooting should be a huge focus for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018 NBA Draft. Los Angeles finished 29th in the league in three-point shooting, making just 34.5 percent of their threes.

Holiday is also a fairly solid playmaker that can play the facilitator role as well. While the Lakers do have Lonzo Ball to encompass that role, the second unit could run through Holiday as he brings a completely different dynamic than Ball.

The biggest downsides of Holiday include his athleticism. While he is a good athlete and great scorer, Holiday lacks the quickness and first-step speed that could make it hard to gain separation in the NBA.

And while Holiday is a great hustle defender, his size will limit him defensively against most larger starting point guards. However, coming off the bench, the six-foot-one, 185-pound point guard should be fine.

Were the Lakers to select Holiday his role on the team is simple. He would serve as the back-up to his former teammate and act as the scoring sparkplug off the bench. Holiday would likely join Josh Hart in what could be one of the best second unit backcourts in the NBA.

If there is a shooting guard or center that the Los Angeles Lakers target that is unavailable by the time the 25th pick rolls around, Holiday becomes an interesting shout. While he does not fit the team’s biggest needs, he has a ton of upside if he can improve on his athleticism with some NBA coaching.

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Plus, Aaron Holiday is just really fun to watch. While that should not be the deciding factor in drafting a player, I am sure that LA basketball fans want to see more of Holiday in action.