NBA Draft Rumors: Lakers May Have Found Their Number Four Overall Pick, But Only If They Keep It
After the events of the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery earlier this week, the Los Angeles Lakers walked out with the number four overall pick. They had high hopes of landing the top selection, but that went to the New Orleans Pelicans who will likely take Duke’s Zion Williamson. Now, the Lakers are looking at every possible option they may have, and they may have a name in mind but that’s only if they end up keeping the pick.
The Lakers truly have a lot to think about when it comes to this year’s draft. The number four overall pick isn’t as high as they had hoped for, but it’s still a great bargaining chip. It could be packaged with some players and shipped off elsewhere in a trade that nabs them a veteran.
On the other hand, the LA Lakers could use the pick to take the top remaining talent on the board after the obvious first three selections are taken.
It is virtually a given that the Pelicans will take Williamson and the Memphis Grizzlies are going after Ja Morant with the second pick. The New York Knicks hop on the board with the third selection and they will most likely take RJ Barrett out of Duke which then puts the Lakers on the clock.
Right now, virtually every mock draft has one player and one player only going to the Los Angeles Lakers and that is point guard Darius Garland out of Vanderbilt.
Once you get past 1st 4 picks in @NBADraft (Darius Garland is my choice there), everything else is a crapshoot. There is more bust potential than normal in picks from No. 5 thru No.14.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) May 15, 2019
The Washington Post has the Lakers grabbing Garland with the fourth pick. Lakers Nation feels as if Garland is going to Los Angeles as well. The mock draft on Sporting News has LA selecting Garland fourth overall to pair with Lonzo Ball in the backcourt.
Lake Show Life is reporting that Garland left the NBA Draft Combine which means he’s not really needing to impress teams any further. If that is the case, he would only think that way if a team told him they were going to pick him and that appears to be the case.
Top prospect Darius Garland has left the NBA Draft Combine, fueling belief among some teams that he could have a promise in lottery, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 15, 2019
There has been speculation that the Chicago Bulls are the team that made a “promise” to Garland, but it’s hard to believe he would still be on the board by the seventh pick. If Chicago were to have told Garland they were taking him, they’d also have to be in talks with other teams about a possible trade.
Chicago Bulls very likely offered a draft promise to Darius Garland reported today.
– PHX source confirms they didn't.
– LAL wouldn't need to and may trade pick for Davis.
– GarPax have a history of offering draft promises & indirectly noted yesterday they'll look PG this draft. pic.twitter.com/eoqYLCKkSD— Chicago Bulls Rumors (@chicagobullsbot) May 16, 2019
The Los Angeles Lakers may very well end up taking Darius Garland with the number four overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft. He would be an excellent addition to the team and give them the proper point guard they desperately need. The only thing is that if the possibility of landing Anthony Davis comes up yet again, the fourth pick may end up being used as trade bait.
