An important offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers has finally arrived as the 2026 NBA Draft was set to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Lakers went into the draft holding one pick at No. 25 overall in the first round, although things can always change as the organization has made trades and bought second-round picks in recent years.
This year, the Lakers did make a trade, moving up from 25 to 24 in a deal with the New York Knicks for cash to draft Cameron Carr out of Baylor, per Shams Charania of ESPN:
The Knicks received cash considerations from the Lakers for No. 24 — Cameron Carr. https://t.co/ngpdusbxmI
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 24, 2026
It’s no secret that the Lakers need to address the center position this offseason and all indications were that they would do so in the draft. They obviously went a different direction here though, moving up to take Carr.
Carr spent his first two college seasons playing sparingly at Tennessee before transferring to Baylor and having a breakout junior season. The 6’5″ wing played in 34 games for the Bears and averaged 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting 49.4% from the field and 37.4% from 3-point range on 6.1 attempts.
While the Lakers could have depth at the guard and wing positions once they fill out their roster, Carr is a versatile player with a lot of upside that was tough to pass up on at this point in the draft. He is an exceptional athlete and shooter, which are traits the Lakers certainly need.
The Lakers currently do not have any picks in the second round, so barring a trade on Wednesday, Carr will be their lone selection.
Carr does have a bit of a connection to the Lakers organization as his dad Chris came in second to Kobe Bryant in the 1997 Dunk Contest. He is also represented by Bill Duffy of BDA Sports, who is Luka Doncic’s agent.
Rob Pelinka knows player development is important for Lakers success
Given the constrictions of the NBA CBA, the Lakers are leaning on drafting and developing young talent to be successful, which Rob Pelinka spoke about earlier this offseason.
“I think in this salary cap system, player development is going to be a huge thing to lean into for success ultimately,” Pelinka said. “We’ve seen that. I think you could look at veteran players that have come here and developed. I’ll use Rui as an example. When we traded for him, and who he is now, he’s a different player. That’s a testament to JJ’s player development, staff, I see coach Bo sitting here, he’s poured in so much.
“So I think there can be development of veteran players too that are still young. I think we have Adou Thiero as another example. Had some bumps with his health this year but once he got healthy, JJ trusted him enough to put him in a playoff series, and got some big rebounds and made some big plays. Those are just examples. We have to continue to find young talent and develop them.”
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