Lakers Draft Day Prospects June 22, 2023

There are a lot of players I like but I'm basing my pick on who I think might be there that can help us now. I wouldn't mind Jett Howard. I like his shot and that he has a solid defensive base that Ham could build on. I would be counting on him being more NBA ready with Juan being his dad, which is what we need since we are in win this season mode. Sturdy body and pedigrees do matter some. He could back up Rui right away and get experience so he is ready as a role player for the playoffs plus he is a great young guy to add to the Austin, Max, Rui mix. Barring another amazing trade we need someone that can play now. Jordan Hawkins would be another good choice but I don't see him being there.

 

Next one

 

one of hawkins, jett howard, kris murray, podziemski, and lively is almost certain to be there at 17. if we keep the pick, there will be players worth taking.

 

Yes, we come up looking pretty good no matter what happens. Podziemski really caught my eye as well. Pretty exciting time.

 

Quick bit of info from today's workout crew.

I call this batch the Van Wilder crew. Jovanovic was the only one not born in 99-00. There's good and bad with drafting older players, the good is they should be able to step in and contribute sooner. The bad, their ceiling will likely be lower.

Marcus Carr - late 2nd - undrafted. Pat Bev (ew!)/Davion Mitchell comp.

Djordjije Jovanovic - undrafted? Nothing really on him and his stats in the G League last year were ugly. International stats before that are unimpressive too.

Justyn Mutts - 2nd round/undrafted bubble. Sees himself as a Jeff/Josh Green type.

Tyger Campbell - 2nd round/undrafted bubble. 5-11, NO.

Anton Watson - 2nd round/undrafted. Trey Lyles comp.

Kevin Obanor - 2nd round/undrafted.

 

Bilal Coulibaly may be available around the #17 pick and he's a very intriguing prospect.
Very athletic 6'7 wing with a huge wingspan, and he's actually got a very good offensive game and can shoot the 3. He's the ideal 3 and D type with upside to be a Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Paul George type.

 

Some noticeable movers after the combine and pro days. Here's ones that have been either discussed here or projected to be our pick at some point.

Jalen Hood-Schifino up to 9 (Jazz)

Jordan Hawkins @ 13 (TOR)

Dereck Lively II @ 14 (NO)

Cason Wallace to us @ 17

18. Jett Howard - HEAT

19. Rayan Rupert - GSW

21. Bilal Coulibaly - Nets

22. Leonard Miller - Nets

24. Kris Murray - Kings

27. Brandin Podziemski - Hornets

28. OMP - Jazz

Then with our 2nd round pick...

 

Seems we also interviewed Bufkin and Sensabaugh at the combine



https://www.orlandosentinel.com/202...rep-ohio-state-brice-sensabaugh-nba-predraft/

 

We better not pass on Jett at 17 if he is there. If we landed Jett and Zach that be an A draft considering the pick positioning. Jett is going to have a much better career than many that go ahead of him. Getting Zach will help fill the void left by the other big Z.

 

I've seen this a couple times now. Is it for Division 1? Zach Edey won the Wooden Naismith College Player of the Year Award. If it's Division 1 how is he only projected near end of the 2nd round? If not Division 1 ..... still .... is it an award to be pooh poohed? Dude is 7'4" and 305lbs. And only 21 years old.

Naismith College Player of the Year

Maybe it's the 3 ball thing and fact he never shot one in a game? Here the Athletic talks about that:

Can Purdue star Zach Edey make 3-pointers? The Athletic investigates

By Bob Kravitz
Mar 16, 2023
33

The Athletic has live coverage of the NCAA Tournament National Championshipgame.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Zach Edey, the most unique and dominant figure in this NCAA Tournament, needs 14 points and 27 rebounds to become the first player in NCAA history with 750 points, 450 rebounds, 50 blocks and 50 assists in a season.

Which is very impressive, of course.

But here at The Athletic, we need to know more. We need to dive deeper. We need to peel back the layers of the onion and get answers to the important questions nobody else dares to ask.

Namely, this: Can Edey hit a 3-point shot?

More to the point, if he took 10 uncontested college 3s, how many would he make?

In the name of Woodward and Bernstein and big-time investigative journalism, I went to Purdue’s practice in West Lafayette, Ind., on Monday and came here to Nationwide Arena on Thursday to get answers to this pressing question.

(Oh, sure, we could write your basic preview of Friday’s first-round game between the third-ranked and top-seeded Boilermakers and the No. 16-seeded Fairleigh d***inson Lilliputians — sorry, Knights. But for all of FDU coach Tobin Anderson’s bravado — after Wednesday’s First Four victory over Texas Southern, he told his team, “The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them” — this remains a typical 1-16 mismatch, featuring the Edey-led Boilers and an FDU team whose tallest player is 6-6.)

To get answers, I started at the top — quite literally — with Edey. He has never attempted a 3-point shot in an organized game. He’ll mess around in practice (more on that later), but he’s a 73.6 percent free-throw shooter with a very nice, soft touch.

“I’d give myself four,” Edey said. “Do I get time to warm up?”

Of course.

“Yeah, four,” he said. “But I don’t need to, right? I can always get a better shot.”

How would Matt Painter react?

“If we were up 50, he’s probably be like, ‘OK,’ but if it was a close game, he’d be ticked. He’d probably pull me pretty quick.”

He smiled.

“I think it’s something I can definitely develop, if it’s needed,” Edey said. “I don’t know if it will be needed (at the NBA level) or not, but it’s something I’ve been working on a little. I’ve always been able to stretch the floor; there just hasn’t been any need for me to do that because I’m always surrounded by four shooters. I’m always in the paint. Our offense relies so heavily on me being a presence in the paint, if I’m out at the 3-point line, it messes up a lot of the things that we do.”

The NBA is filled now with 7-footers who can make 3s. Brook Lopez …

“Yeah, like, Lopez has to space the floor because they’ve got Giannis,” he said. “On this team, I’m the Giannis, and people space around me.”


GO DEEPER

 

I’m a big fan but he seem to have fallen off mock drafts. I saw him being mocked as high as the Laker 2nd round pick and now gone.

 

people think wallace could drop to 17. would be a steal and at a spot of need (big defensive pg). i think he's close to nba ready, too, despite being young.

 

oh joy. our Summer League savior is out of the draft along with so many others

 

Impacts our options at #47

 

Any hidden Jokic in this draft?

 

He just went back to school.

 

Back to the drawing board.

 

From the Woike article LT posted in the rumors thread...

Here's the skinny on Maxwell Lewis from the latest ESPN+ mock

Projected 30th to Clippers

And here's what they have on Nick Smith Jr (likely not in our range)

12th to OKC

 

The more I look at Lively the more I'm thinking you couldn't pass him up if he is there at 17. I'm still fine with Jett if Lively is gone. But dang, that guy has energy and would really make it hard on teams in the paint. With Lively and AD nobody would be getting anything inside. Plus on offense his passes are spot on even out of doubles. Got the height and reach to see over guys and doesn't panic. If available he has to be our guy.

 

Yeah. But I bet all those consecutive high arcing bombs from behind the 3pt line caught everyone’s attention.