Los Angeles Lakers: 2017 NBA Draft Grades
Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka survived their first NBA Draft in the Lakers’ front office. How did they do?
№2: Point Guard, Lonzo Ball (UCLA)
Per-Game Stats: 14.6 points, 7.6 assists, 6 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 0.3 blocks
Both Lonzo Ball and his outspoken father, LaVar, can breathe a sigh of relief now that Lonzo has been selected by his hometown Lakers with the second overall pick in the draft. While Ball was the early favorite for Los Angeles, the front office reportedly fell in and out of love with other top-tier prospects, including Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox and Kansas’ Josh Jackson. In the end, Ball’s talent and extreme upside was too much to pass on.
With D’Angelo Russell now out of the picture, Ball will be able to take the reins of Luke Walton’s offense from day one. Like Walton, Ball is a fan of pushing the pace, which he did well during his four years at Chino Hills High School and during his lone season with the Bruins. If his elite court vision translates to the pros, the Lakers are going to be a tough team to beat in transition.
Questions will remain about his unorthodox shooting stroke and questionable on-ball defense, but Ball’s extremely high basketball IQ and 6-foot-6 frame is a big enough selling point at this stage of his career.
Grade: A
№27: Power Forward, Kyle Kuzma (Utah)
Per-Game Stats: 16.4 points, 2.4 assists, 9.3 rebounds, 0.6 steals, 0.5 blocks
Coming off of a career-year with the University of Utah, Kyle Kuzma snuck into the first round of the NBA draft, landing in Los Angeles. The Lakers acquired the No. 27 pick in the trade that sent D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week. Kuzma was projected to go to the Lakers with No. 28 pick by Draft Express and The Ringer leading up to the draft.
During his three years with the Swoops, Kuzma steadily improved as a shooter, but there’s still reason to be skeptical about how much of that will translate to the NBA. He shot an underwhelming 32.1 percent from behind the arc in his last season with Utah while attempting 2.9 3-pointers per game. If the Lakers are looking for their stretch four, he’s not their guy.
Kuzma’s real value lies in his high basketball IQ. He makes smart basketball plays on both ends and is a willing playmaker. Kuzma also has the potential to be a versatile, multi positional defender, but needs to improve his defensive fundamentals in order to do so.
He should spend some time with the Lakers’ G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, for a good chunk of the season.
Grade: C
№30: Shooting Guard, Josh Hart (Villanova)
Per-Game Stats: 18.7 points, 2.9 assists, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 0.3 blocks
The Lakers made a sneaky good trade late in the draft, moving down two spots from the No. 28 and acquiring a second round pick in the process. With the No. 30 pick, the Lakers selected Villanova’s Josh Hart. Aside from the Lonzo Ball pick, obviously, Hart was the best pick of the Lakers’ four picks on the evening.
An NCAA champion and a consensus 2016–17 first team All-American, Hart comes to Los Angeles with an impressive resume. This past season, Hart led the Big East in points per game (18.1), player efficiency rating (28.1) and win shares (7.7). His four years at Villanova allowed him to sharpen his game and become the all-around player he is now.
On the defensive end, he will be a nice complement to both Jordan Clarkson and Lonzo Ball, who are currently the team’s lone point guards going into the 2017–18 season. Both Clarkson and Ball are below average defenders and Hart thrives on the defensive end, leading the Big East in defensive win shares in back-to-back seasons. At 6-foot-6, Hart has no problem guarding positions 1 through 3.
Offensively, he’s a work in progress, but has shown enough to earn healthy minutes off the bench as a rookie. He struggles with creating his own shot and has an unimpressive handle, but he can knock down open 3-pointers and use his quick first step to attack the rim. Luckily, he won’t be asked to do a ton offensively at first, with Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and Ivica Zubac expected to get the bulk of the touches off the bench.
Down the road, Hart has the potential to be an above-average player. Right now, however, he can still contribute at a high-level in his first season in the NBA.
Grade: B+
№42: Center, Thomas Bryant (Indiana)
Per-Game Stats: 12.6 points, 1.5 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 0.8 steals, 1.5 blocks
This late in the draft, there are no sure-fire NBA stars. At best, you get a guy that falls a few spots because of a series of unimpressive pre-draft workouts or concerning physicals. For Indiana’s Thomas Bryant, neither was the case.
Bryant, in his two years at Indiana, carved out a role as a high-energy big man. He lacks a polished game, both offensively and defensively, but his physical tools were enough to take a flyer out on him late in the draft. Standing at 6-foot-11 in shoes with a 7-foot-6 wingspan, Bryant has the potential to be a defensive stopper in the NBA. However, poor fundamentals and questions about his mobility have stopped him from taking his game to the next level.
At only 19 years old, Bryant has a few years to develop his game, likely in the G-League with the South Bay Lakers. Luckily for him, history shows that Bryant’s end up working out in Los Angeles.
Grade: C
All stats are courtesy of sports-reference.com/cbb unless otherwise noted. For the latest updates on the Los Angeles Lakers for 16 Wins A Ring, follow @RadRivas on Twitter.
