NBA Draft: Why the Lakers don’t have a pick in the first round
Ahead of the 2022 NBA Draft, there might be a chance the Lakers, who don’t have a first round pick, trade one of their players for a pick this year.
The 2022 NBA season has officially come to an end and teams are getting ready to add some talent to their rosters during this Thursday’s NBA Draft.
And while several teams hold more than one selection in the first round of the draft, multiple other teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, are entering draft night without a pick in the first round.
Related: NBA Draft 2022: Meet the top 3 prospects
Why do the Lakers not have a pick in the first round?
Back in 2019, the Lakers traded their first-round pick to Anthony Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans center. And because of L.A.’s 33-39 record, the pick ended up being No. 8 in this year’s draft. The Davis trade was worth it for the Lakers as they won the 2020 championship, but so was the case with the Pelicans, given their postseason success due to the picks they got in the deal.
Who are the Lakers targeting in the 2022 NBA Draft?
While Los Angeles hasn’t yet bought an NBA draft pick, they seem interested in doing so, at least according to general manager Rob Pelinka who said last week that the Lakers had “had great success if you look at our draft history and the guys we’ve drafted and developed. We think we can do it again in 2022 if we can pull off a trade to get a pick.”
Additionally, because of the availability of picks in the second round each year, it is probable that the Lakers make a draft selection for a player and buy a pick for the first time since selecting Talen Horton-Tucker in 2019.