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Los Angeles Lakers: Players that should have been drafted in the first

By Jason Reed

EL SEGUNDO, CA - JUNE 26: NBA 2018 draft pick Moritz Wagner #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers answers questions during an introductory press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center on June 26, 2018 in El Segundo, California. Wagner was chosen with the 25th overall pick and Mykhailiuk with the 47th pick. TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
EL SEGUNDO, CA - JUNE 26: NBA 2018 draft pick Moritz Wagner #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers answers questions during an introductory press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center on June 26, 2018 in El Segundo, California. Wagner was chosen with the 25th overall pick and Mykhailiuk with the 47th pick. TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

The Los Angeles Lakers selected forward Moritz Wagner in the first-round of the 2018 NBA Draft. While Wagner does have potential, LA could have made better picks.

There was plenty of speculation surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers heading into the 2018 NBA Draft. For the first time 2013, the Lakers did not have a selection in the lottery. 2018 marked the first year since 2014 that the Lakers did not have the second overall pick in the draft.

Instead, the rights to the Lakers’ draft pick went to the Philadelphia 76ers, who used it to select Mikal Bridges and then flip him for Zhaire Smith with the 10th overall pick.

The Lakers received the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first-round pick, which ended up being the 25th overall pick, in the trade that also netted LA Isaiah Thomas.

With the 25th overall pick the Los Angeles Lakers selected Moritz Wagner; a seven-foot power forward that can shoot the three and is a decent rebounder. Despite his size, Wagner does not have the play style to be a productive, traditional, center in the league.

With Brook Lopez hitting free agency and Ivica Zubac and Thomas Bryant still unproven, the Lakers lack a true center that they can rely on. Because of that, added with specific factors that will likely play out in free agency, the Lakers may be rethinking their selection as the season goes along.

With that being said, here are three prospects that the Los Angeles Lakers should have taken with the 25th overall pick instead of Wagner.

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