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In a night full of surprises, the Los Angeles Lakers had one themselves. After selecting D’Angelo Russell with the second pick, they took Larry Nance Jr. with the 27th pick. The Lakers had the chance to land R.J. Hunter, Kevon Looney, Christian Wood and Norman Powell. Nance Jr is a good player, but it’s clear that the Lakers had better options with this selection.
There was a solid chance that Nance Jr. wasn’t even going to be selected in the NBA Draft. With the 34th pick, the Lakers would’ve had a great chance of landing him if they really wanted him this much.
The forward averaged 16.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 2.4 APG in college. Nance can also defend well as he was one of few players to average 1.2 STLPG and 1.2 BLKPG. He is also a terrific athlete (37.5-inch vertical) despite being an inch or two undersized at 6-foot-8. It would’ve made sense for the Lakers to get Hunter or Looney. Hunter is as good of a shooter as anyone in the draft. He also has terrific size at 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-11 wingspan. An underrated part of his game is his passing ability, as he dished out 3.5 APG.
Looney is a prospect who has lottery potential. He is 6-foot-9 with terrific rebounding at 9.2 RPG, passing ability and versatility on defense. Looney’s shot is also improving, as shown in his freshman year when he shot 42 percent from three.
These two prospects are clearly ahead of Nance Jr. in terms of talent and potential. They are also younger than the 22-year old forward. While Nance Jr. can be a nice spark off the bench for the Lakers in the future, it’s hard to agree with this selection.
George Middleton is a Los Angeles Lakers beat writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @george51391, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
