With one game left in the 2013-14 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers, the upcoming 2014 NBA Draft will start to become the team’s focus moving forward. The Lakers will have a high pick in the upcoming draft and could land a game-changing player if the ping pong balls fall in their favor.
One draft prospect that has gotten a lot of buzz in Los Angeles as of late is Dante Exum. The Australian star has been seen at numerous Lakers games at the Staples Center this season and has also signed with Kobe Bryant’s agent, Rob Pelinka.
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Along with idolizing Kobe and his game, Exum believes that landing in Los Angeles in the 2014 NBA Draft would be the best fit from him. Exum said the following about the prospect of being selected by the Lakers in the upcoming draft in an interview with Bleacher Report:
“If I get the opportunity to go to L.A. and play for the Lakers, and just to be in an environment where you have a great player like Kobe. Obviously picking his brain and what he’s done. How he’s kind of adapted over the years because he’s definitely in the talk of one of the greatest players of all-time. To be trying to like mentor in a way to like kind of a rookie. I think that would be the best option.”
It is fairly clear that Exum wants to be a Laker. It no secret that he’s high on the prospect of wearing the purple and gold to start his career in the NBA while playing alongside Kobe. Although the promising youngster from Australia hopes to land in Los Angeles, it remains to be seen if the Lakers will be able to grab him or even if they’re interested in drafting him.
After the win over the Utah Jazz, the Lakers won’t have a lower pick than ninth in the draft, but may not have a higher pick that sixth. Even though Exum hasn’t had the exposure in the United States in comparison to say Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), Jabari Parker (Duke) or Julius Randle (Kentucky), many believe he’ll be taken in the top five meaning that the possibility of falling to the Lakers may be slim.
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NBA Draft Profile: DANTE EXUM