In the first installment of this ongoing series, “The Last 10 Drafts” is exactly that: a chance to re-examine the selections made by each NBA team since 2005 in hopes of gaining a better understanding how and why the decisions made “back then” translate to the success (or maybe not) a team experiences today.
With Kobe Bryant announcing his retirement on November 29, attention now shifts to the future of the Los Angeles Lakers and how management will construct the team moving forward. But if the Lakers are planning to rebuild the organization through the NBA Draft, their strategy needs to improve immensely during the selection and overall development process.
Here is how “The Last 10 Drafts” breaks down:
2005 – Andrew Bynum (Round 1, 10th overall) C / St. Joseph
A 9-year NBA career, Bynum won two NBA titles (2009, 2010) and was an NBA All-Star in 2012. Spent 6 seasons with Lakers. Part of four-team trade that moved Dwight Howard from Orlando to LA and sent Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2012. Howard only spent one season with the Lakers, signed with the Houston Rockets as a free agent in 2013.
2005 – Ronny Turiaf (Round 2, 37th overall) PF/C Gonzaga
A 9-year NBA career, spent 2 seasons with the Lakers before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2008.
2005 – Von Wafer (Round 2, 39th overall) G/ Florida State
6-year NBA career, spent 1 season with Lakers. Waived in 2006.
2006 – Jordan Farmar (Round 1, 26th overall) PG/ UCLA
8-year NBA pro, part of two NBA Championship teams (2009, 2010). Signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets in 2010.
2006 – Cheikh Samb (Round 2, 51st overall) C/ WTC Cornellà (Span – 2nd Division)
Played in 22 NBA games in 2 seasons. Traded from Lakers on draft night to the Detroit Pistons for Maurice Evans. Evans played 1 1/2 seasons with Lakers (traded to Orlando Magic with Brian Cook for Trevor Ariza in 2007). Ariza played two seasons with LA, won NBA title in 2009, signed with Houston Rockets via free agency in 2009. Samb has played the last 5 seasons in Dubai.
2007 – Javaris Crittenton (Round 1, 19th overall) PG/ Georgia Tech
Played 2 seasons in the NBA, appeared in 22 regular season games for the Lakers. Part of trade that helped Lakers acquire Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies (along with a 2nd Round Pick – Devin Ebanks) in 2010.
2007 – Sun Yue (Round 2, 40th overall) PG/ Beijing Olympians (ABA)
Played a total of 10 regular season games for Lakers during 2008-09 season. Won an NBA Championship in 2009. Waived by LA in 2009.
2007 – Marc Gasol (Round 2, 48 overall) C/ Akasvayu Girona (Spain – ACB)
Rights traded to Memphis Grizzlies as part of Pau Gasol trade. Marc Gasol’s NBA resume includes: NBA All-Star (2012, 2015), NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2013), All-NBA First Team (2015), All-NBA Second Team (2013), NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2013), NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2009).
2008 – Joe Crawford (Round 2, 58 overall) SG/ Kentucky
Appeared in 3 exhibition games. Waived in 2008.
2009 – Toney Douglas (Round 1, 29th overall) G/ Florida State
Rights traded to New York Knicks in exchange for 2nd Round pick in 2011 (Andrew Goudelock) and cash consideration ($3 million).
2009 – Patrick Beverley (Round 2, 42nd overall) G/ Arkansas
Rights traded to the Miami HEAT in exchange for 2nd Round pick in 2011 (Ater Majok) and cash consideration. After playing 3 seasons overseas, Beverley was an All-NBA Defensive Second Team with the Houston Rockets in 2014.
2009 – Chinemelu Elonu (Round 2, 59th overall) PF/C Texas A&M
Never played for the Lakers. Signed to play in Spain’s ACB with Zaragoza
2010 – Devin Ebanks (Round 2, 43rd overall) F/ West Virginia
Played 3 NBA seasons, appeared in 63 regular season games. Signed as free agent with Dallas Mavericks in 2013.
2010 – Derrick Caracter (Round 2, 58th overall) PF/C UTEP
Spent 2 seasons with the Lakers, appeared in 41 regular season games. Waived in 2012.
2011 – Darius Morris (Round 2, 41th overall) PG/ Michigan (Sophomore)
Spent 2 seasons with the Lakers, appeared in 67 regular season games. Signed with Philadelphia 76ers as unrestricted free agent in 2013. Note: Lakers also traded Sasha Vujacic and a 2011 first round pick (which became JuJuan Johnson) to the New Jersey Nets as part of a three-team deal with Houston. Lakers received Joe Smith, two second-round picks from the Nets in 2011 (Darius Morris), 2012 (Robert Sacre) and the draft rights to Sergie Lishchuk from the Rockets (rights traded back to Houston in 2014 for Jeremy Lin, a 1st Round and 2nd Round pick).
2011 – Andrew Goudelock (Round 2, 46th overall) SG/ College of Charleston
Played with Lakers for 2 seasons, appeared in 41 regular season games. Waived in 2012. Re-signed briefly in 2013, before eventually signing overseas in Russia in 2013.
2011 – Chukwudiebere Maduabum (Round 2, 56th overall) SF/ Bakersfield Jam
Traded on draft night to the Denver Nuggets for a future 2nd Round pick
2011 – Ater Majok (Round 2, 58th overall) C/ Gold Coast Blaze
Never played for the Lakers. Signed in Slovakia in 2011.
Recent Draft Selections on Current Roster
2012 – Robert Sacre (Round 2, 60th overall) C/ Gonzaga
2013 – Ryan Kelley (Round 2, 48th overall) PF/ Duke
2014 – Julius Randle (Round 1, 7th overall) PF/ Kentucky
2014 – Jordan Clarkson (Round 2, 46th overall) SG/ Missouri
2015 – D’Angelo Russell (Round 1, 2nd overall) PG/ Ohio
2015 – Larry Nance Jr. (Round 1, 27th overall) PF/ Wyoming
2015 – Anthony Brown (Round 2, 34th overall) SF/ Stanford
The Last 10 Drafts Review: Clearly with NBA championship caliber teams of Phil Jackson (2005-2011) and titles in 2009 and 2010, the focus then was on acquiring pieces to fit Jackson’s system and not building the organization through the NBA Draft. With no first round picks in the three-year stretch of 2010-2013, you could argue the damage to establishing a young concrete base was done in the prior seasons with a “win now” mentality. Instead, the Lakers model of “trade away picks” is equally as troubling as the selections they made over a six year stretch during the 2006-2012 NBA Drafts, when the 14 players selected played a combined 158 regular season games.
Of those 14 players, 6 were traded or had their rights traded on draft night, 4 players were waived, 2 left via free agency and 2 never played for the Lakers.
While Los Angeles was able to acquire a player like Pau Gasol in 2007, they also had to give up the future of Marc Gasol and short-changed the development of a player like Patrick Beverley in 2009. This is less about missing out on guys like Danny Green (46th overall), Patty Mills (55th overall) in 2009, Isaiah Thomas in 2011 (60th overall) or a Wesley Matthews (undrafted in 2009), and more about missed opportunities to grow talent during a six year stretch that now proves costly to where the Lakers are heading.
With prospects like Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell projected to lead the team after Kobe’s farewell season, the Lakers are slowly moving in the right direction if they can hold onto and develop this core for the future.
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