The Los Angeles Lakers could have made a splash in the course of the 2023 NBA draft if they truly needed to. And they wouldn’t have even wanted to decide up the telephone and negotiate a likely trade due to the fact the possible substantial-upside, “splashy” option at No. 17 was on the board in Villanova’s Cam Whitmore.
Though the Lakers’ collection of Jalen Hood-Schifino should offer you plenty of very long-term upside, it’s possible Whitmore could make a greater influence suitable out of the gate in the NBA. And as The Athletic’s Jovan Buha noted, the Lakers regarded as Whitmore but decided Hood-Schifino was a “surer guess.”
This comes on the heels of Deseret Information’s Sarah Todd reporting that 5 distinct groups ended up concerned about “character issues” with Whitmore.
The takeaway of a probable Whitmore vs. Hood-Schifino inner decision for the Lakers has considerably less to do with the two gamers but a lot more to do with a combination of scheduling for the now though balancing the team’s long term. LeBron James even now has not confirmed he is not retiring, but as ESPN’s Dave McMenamin documented, he believes we’ll see the potential Corridor of Famer return for the 2023-24 time.
The Lakers drafting Whitmore more than Hood-Schifino would have finished a draft-night slide that at some point finished with the former-projected lottery choose coming off the board at No. 20 to the Houston Rockets. But as Buha framed it, the Lakers are “toeing the fragile line” of existing championship aspirations with the “fact that their window may well only be a yr or two.”
And by likely with Hood-Schifino around Whitmore, it can be clear that it can be not lost on Rob Pelinka that he wants to start arranging for the post-LeBron era also.
