When the Los Angeles Lakers earned the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery it gave president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka plenty of options.
One of those options is to draft a player of their choosing. It seems as if the Boston Celtics are going to take Markelle Fultz with the top overall pick, so the Lakers can choose from Lonzo Ball, Josh Jackson, De’Aaron Fox, or many others at No. 2.
If they are not in love with any of those players they can also use the pick to trade for a superstar like Paul George or Jimmy Butler. With how good this draft is perceived to be, the second pick has better value than in year’s past.
Another option is that they can trade the second pick and acquire more picks. It appears that is an option they are currently exploring, via Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog:
One source suggested the Lakers might be open to trading down and want to create the impression that they are interested in Kansas’ Josh Jackson so teams who like him would consider trading up to get the No. 2 pick. The Lakers then could still get Ball or Fox after the second pick, the source suggested.
While it was originally looking like Ball was the favorite to land in L.A., it appears that may no longer be the case as it was recently rumored that the Lakers would not take Ball if the draft were today. Ball is set to workout for the Lakers on Wednesday, so a lot will be riding on that workout.
Johnson and head coach Luke Walton have given praise to Ball in the past though, so the UCLA product still has to be considered the favorite, assuming the Lakers don’t trade the pick.
A team like the Sacramento Kings, who own both the fifth and 10th picks in this draft, would be a logical partner should the Lakers seriously consider moving down in the draft.
