So, today I sarcastically feigned excitement about today’s draft lottery and then detailed why the Lakers odds, though improved, still pointed to them staying put and ending up with the 11th overall selection. Being wrong never felt so good.
The lottery gods blessed the Lakers again on Tuesday, vaulting the Lakers up seven slots into the 4th overall selection in June’s NBA draft.
We’ll have more analysis on what this could mean for the Lakers as they head into the draft and, potentially, free agency, but this is just tremendous news for an organization that could use some positive press after taking a lot of public relations hits in the last 6 weeks. It gives the Lakers a slew of options at the top of the draft or a potentially valuable trade chip that could be used to bolster already present pieces to build packages which could (again, potentially) snag an already established impact player.
Today, then, could be the start of something that is a big step forward. Again, more on this later, but for now it’s time to celebrate. The Lakers just jumped up near the top of the draft and a lot of roads just opened up for them in the process.