Ending a years-long series of disasters that befell them, to go with those inflicted on themselves, the Lakers drew the No. 2 pick in Tuesday's NBA lottery, which will enable them to take....
Emmanuel Mudiay is the one I'm going with... unless the Timberwolves take Jahlil Okafor, as lots of outlets are reporting they may. If they do, I think the Lakers will take Karl-Anthony Towns... unless something else happens, in which case I give up.
Here's what happens at the top of the draft, I think:
1. Minnesota--Towns? With Ricky Rubio, they don't need a point guard. Towns is the consensus choice as the best big.
On the other hand, there are reports that the T-Wolves like Jahlil Okafor from Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Adrian Wojnarowski of
2. Lakers--Mudiay. The draft sites are pencilling in Okafor but I think the Lakes will love Mudiay, the Congo native raised in Texas. He's not only a major talent at point guard but Showtime incarnate, a big value for Jerry Buss and his kids.
D'Angelo Russell, the other point guard in this draft who's really good, is better known but the NBA people I talk to rave about Mudiay.
Of course, if Towns is there, meet the next in the line from Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Shaquille O'Neal. If no one would predict Towns will be an all-time great, I think he would be good enough for the Lakers' purposes.
3. 76ers--Russell. Or if Lakers takes Russell, they'll take Mudiay. With young bigs and no point, it figures to be one of them.
4. Knicks--Okafor. Fabulous pick to get at No. 4. Giant, skilled. Not over-athletic. Didn't show at the combine so we don't know how tall he really is... but Towns looked like his little brother standing next to him at the lottery show.
Bottom line for Knick fans who are already venting their famed spleens at falling to No. 4 despite the second-worst record: This is such a good draft, I'd bet you'll wind up loving whoever drops to them.
5. Orlando--Kristaps Porzingis. Young, spindly Latvian seven-footer with skills so major, some GMs think he belongs in top three.
This day was a long time coming for the Lakers and had a chance of not happening at all.
Their fourth-worst record gave them a 53% chance of dropping lower--and a 17% shot of missing the top five and having to give their pick to Philadelphia to complete the disastrous 2012 trade for Steve Nash.
Lakers to take guy on left, or third from left, or... (AP Photos)
If things weren't bad enough after being jilted by Dwight Howard, hiring Mike D'Antoni over Phil Jackson and the annual loss of Kobe Bryant--whom they signed to a two-year $48.5 million extension between injuries--this spring turned into a tanking contest with Philadelphia.
With the 76ers rewriting the book on how to do it, throwing away two seasons after trading every single player on their roster, the Lakers were over their heads.
On March 20, the Lakers were 17-50, the Sixers 17-52. Had neither team won again, they would have finished in a tie for the No. 3 slot in the lottery. The Lakers won four more games--including two against the 76ers--which settled that.
Happily for all involved, the seemingly humble Class of 2015 turned out to be better and deeper than the celebrated 2014s. In a mock draft combining both classes, two NBA execs took 10 of the top 15 from the '15s.
Most teams would take Towns No. 1 but Minnesota will reportedly consider Okafor. There are scenarios in which Russell or Mudiay would have gone No. 1--if the pick had gone to the 76ers.
Some GMs rate Porzingis, a young Latvian, as high as No. 2, although with his spindly 7-0 220-pound frame and the array of talent ahead of him, he's not expected to get higher than No. 5.
As for that turnaround the Lakers are living for with Kobe Bryant going into his final season and Time Warner execs going bonkers after the first two seasons of their 20-year $4 billion deal, that's asking for a lot.
If a nucleus of Mudiay (or Russell or Okafor), Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and a revived Bryant (they hope) would be better than last season's expansion roster, they're in the West where seven teams won 50 games and Oklahoma City finished No. 9 with Kevin Durant out most of the way... not to mention the resurgent young Timberwolves with Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio.
On the other hand, to borrow Richard Farina's phrase, the Lakers have been down so long, this looks like up to them.
The draft is June 25. Between now and then, prepare to hear the names of Mudiay, Russell and Okafor about 10,000 times a day in Southern California.
