One of the more interesting subplots of this NBA season is which team will end up with the top pick in next June’s draft and have the opportunity to draft French phenom Victor Wembanyama.
The 7-foot-2 18-year-old (he actually says he’s 7-foot-3 in bare feet) has shown remarkable skills for someone his height and age. Many believe he is a generational talent who could become a Hall of Famer.
With a 3-10 record, the Los Angeles Lakers are in serious danger of missing the playoffs, but it gets even worse. If they do miss the playoffs and are awarded the first pick in the 2023 draft, that pick would go to the New Orleans Pelicans.
As part of 2019’s Anthony Davis trade, L.A. agreed to give the Pelicans the right to swap picks with it in 2023.
According to Marc Stein, the Lakers organization is starting to fear its poor play could end up delivering Wembanyama to the Pelicans.
Via Marc Stein Substack:
“There is already a palpable fear inside (what I still like to call) Staples Center that the Purple & Gold are careening toward a draft in June in which the New Orleans Pelicans are gleefully positioned to swap picks with L.A. as a condition of the Anthony Davis blockbuster deal in July 2019.”
That outcome would be the worst-case scenario for the Lakers, and it would make their front office, which is already seen with pity and contempt across the league, look even more incompetent.
