The Lakers will pick seventh in June 26th’s NBA Draft, as determined by a live drawing on Tuesday night in New York City.
That outcome was the second-most likely situation for the Lakers, who had a 30.5 percent chance of dropping one slot from the sixth position they occupied based on their 2013-14 record.
Heading into the evening, the Lakers had a 21.5 percent chance of jumping into the top three – 1st (6.3 percent); 2nd (7.1 percent); 3rd (8.1 percent) – but only the unlikely Cleveland Cavaliers moved up. In the nine slot ahead of the draft, Cleveland had just a 1.7 percent chance of getting the top pick, but that they did, pushing the other 13 lottery teams down one position by earning the top overall selection.
L.A. was most likely to stay at 6th (43.9%), while the chances of falling to 8th (4.0%) or 9th (0.1%) were remote.
The franchise’s hope, like every other team in the lottery, was to move up in to the top three, and they sent James Worthy with a few good luck charms towards that end.
Rewind back to the 1982 NBA Draft, when the Lakers were represented by legendary broadcaster and front office executive Chick Hearn, just three years after Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the team. They were armed with the No. 1 pick, thanks to the dealings of then-general manager Bill Sharman, and used it to take future Hall of Famer Worthy.
So tonight, there was Big Game James armed with bobbleheads of Chick Hearn and Dr. Buss, with Bill Sharman on his mind. And while Worthy and L.A.’s hopes weren’t realized, the Lakers will get a very good player at No. 7 in a draft considered to be the deepest in several years.
General Manager Mitch Kupchak will weigh on the position on Wednesday morning
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