The Los Angeles Lakers now have the luxury of going big in the 2015 NBA Draft with the emergence of Jordan Clarkson, even with the availability of top point guard prospects Emmanuel Mundiay and D'Angelo Russell.
The Los Angeles Lakers hold the second pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and the choice seems to be boiling down to Karl Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor, who are projected to take the top two spots.
General manager Mitch Kupchak said that the present NBA revolved around guards, which makes it hard to build a team anchored on the post. The Golden State Warriors even won a championship using small ball offense, driven by the current MVP, Stephen Curry.
But Los Angeles Lakers has Jordan Clarkson, and he's a known commodity-- averaging 15.8 points, 5 assists and 4.2 rebounds after the All-Star break-compared to prospects D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mundiay.
Also the Lakers historically have won championships on the shoulders of a dominant big man such as George Mikan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal.
"In years past and maybe even today, it makes sense to build around a big. But you don't want to take a big because it's a big and then pass on the No. 3 pick, which turned out to be Michael Jordan [in '84]," he said.
"So we're going to look at the bigs, then you want to look at the guards and see if there is a guard there that despite being just a guard, you don't want to miss and pass on him because he's not a big," he added.
Meanwhile, with the second pick in the 2015 NBA DRaft, the return of No. 7 pick Julius Randle, and the emergence of Jordan Clarkson, Kobe Bryant will still have a mountain to climb to earn respectability next season.
"The Lakers face 66-1 odds to win the title, meaning they have the 18th best chance to take it all by Bovada.lv, the online sports betting website," said Los Angeles Times.
"Most draft boards have the Lakers selecting Duke center Jahlil Okafor second, which could be the start of pushing them in the right direction and perhaps change their odds some," it added.
