Los Angeles Lakers: Don’t expect LA to draft Darius Garland

The hype around Darius Garland joining the Los Angeles Lakers is starting to grow, even though there is a good chance he does not become a Laker.

After being eliminated from the NBA Playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers’ new objective should have been to lose as many games as possible. With LeBron James slowly getting shut down and other key players out of action, the Lakers were primed for a mini-tank.

The Lakers were in striking distance as well to move up to the sixth worst pick in the NBA. However, to continue a year-long trend, the team once again did not accomplish what it should have been gunning for and starting winning games at the end of the year.

As a result, the Lakers finished the season with the 11th-best odds in the NBA Lottery, practically squashing any value they had in that selection. However, with the lottery being what it is, the team got immensely lucky and moved all the way up to the fourth overall pick.

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Now the Lakers have a decision to make that many fans did not expect to even be possible: does the team keep the selection or trade it? After a video emerged that draft prospect, Darius Garland, was working out with LeBron James, it appears as if the Lakers have their answer.

Garland is definitely talented enough to be in the conversation with the top-three players in the draft but he has just five college games under his belt due to a meniscus injury.

Garland is an electric scorer and is arguably the best shooter in this draft. Putting someone that can play off-ball and knock down shots, all while using his athleticism, fits the Los Angeles Lakers perfectly on paper.

The LeBron workout video and the fact that Garland is signed to Klutch Sports Group, the same agency that represents LeBron, certainly fuels the discussion.

And while we cannot deny potential interest that the Lakers might have in Garland, we can caution fans to be cautious with getting too caught up in the idea of Garland being a Laker.

While his style of play certainly fits the Lakers, he still has to work on his game to become an efficient role player on a title-contending team, which is the Lakers’ ultimate goal. The problem here is that the Lakers do not have much time to capitalize on LeBron.

With every passing day and every new report, it is becoming more and more likely that Anthony Davis ends up on the Los Angeles Lakers. And if it is not Davis, the team is likely going to make some kind of trade with the fourth overall pick, especially considering that the free agent class looks bleak for LA.

If we are being over critical as well, LeBron never has had a good eye when it comes to draft talent. LeBron infamously backed Shabazz Napier so much that the Miami Heat took him in the draft. Napier is a decent bench player, but nothing more than that.

This does not mean that Garland will be a bust, as they are completely different players, but it should make the team cautious in following whoever LeBron deems as “his guy” in this draft.

Chances are that the team will not be the ones making a selection when the fourth overall pick is on the clock. And if they are, the team should be very worrisome in selecting a young guard with five college games and a knee injury.

Garland’s video definitely did its job of giving him coverage and widening his brand entering the 2019 NBA Draft. Don’t let that make you think that he will be a Laker.