Preparing for the Draft

As the month of May nears an end, the Los Angeles Lakers continue to prepare for the off-season. With last week's draft lottery establishing the official order, teams have begun in earnest to map out their draft strategy. The Lakers have traded away their pick to the Boston Celtic deal to acquire Chris Mihm. They also acquired the Miami Heat pick in the Shaquille O'Neal trade. The net result is that Los Angeles will pick at 26 instead of at their "actual" position of 21. The Phoenix Suns have since acquired the Lakers' 21st pick. LA also has the 51st pick in the second round.

With the order finally set, NBA franchises have begun the early stages of trade negotiation. They've started working out players who are expected to be available in their pick range. This particular draft doesn't necessarily contain a ton of star power, but there are a number of solid players to be had even as late as 26. Still, it's every team's obligation to explore trading up from low position, down from high and even out of the draft entirely for teams already stacked with young talent.

The Lakers are one of the many teams trying to move forward in the draft. In fact, LA has been exploring attaining a pick as high as top five. To that end, they've scheduled workouts with a number of players who are expected to go much sooner than 26. That list includes both Brandon Roy and Shelden Williams who are easily considered to be prospects in the top ten. It's not clear if the Lakers have yet scheduled a meeting with Marcus Williams, but he is another player they are said to have their eye on.

Another player whose draft position is unclear at this time is Shawne Williams. He apparently wowed the Lakers in his workout, after which his agent stated that he Williams would be working out with teams primarily in the five to fifteen range. Considering LA is well below that, LA must be letting agents and/or players know that trading up is at least a legitimate possibility to even schedule with lottery level talent.

As far as bait to move up, Chris Mihm's name has been floated as an asset the Lakers would be willing to move. The goal would be to land a veteran player, perhaps with a longer contract, while climbing significantly higher in the lottery. Keeping in mind that it's at a very early stage, names like Derek Fisher, Darius Miles and Chris Duhon have been mentioned as possible targets. Of course, if the Golden State Warriors were contemplating sending Fisher and the ninth pick to LA, they're also talking to teams like the Toronto Raptors about moving up to the number one spot.

In other words, it's simply too early to think that any specific rumor at this point will come to fruition.

Still it's interesting to hear who LA is talking to and what they have in mind. Roy is considered an NBA ready guard who could conceivably play both guard positions in the triangle. Shelden Williams is a very solid, defensive-minded power forward. Marcus Williams is more of a true point guard. Shawne Williams is an athletic small forward, though it's unclear exactly how his skills will translate to the NBA.

Another thing to consider is that Laker GM Mitch Kupchak is known to smokescreen a bit around draft time. Last year, most believed the Lakers would take Gerald Green with their pick at ten. Instead, Green dropped to 18 and the Lakers took center Andrew Bynum. Shawne Williams could be a legitimate Laker target, or this year's misdirection.

Speaking of Bynum, had he waited a year to come out, he'd easily be a top five pick. There are some rumors that the Lakers are willing to move him for a piece that would help they compete right now, but they definitely won't let go of him easily. The player coming back would need to bring back major impact immediately.

The Lakers are watching the Western Conference Finals, still frustrated by the Tim Thomas three-pointer in games six. They are confident that had they advanced they would have beaten the Clippers with an excellent chance to beat the Dallas Mavericks. LA may not be the perfectly assembled team, but they realize they missed an opportunity to possibly sneak as far as the NBA Finals. The thinking is that the Lakers operate accordingly this summer to ensure they have the pieces in place to make a run next season.

Of course, should LeBron James decide not to sign his extension this summer, the Lakers may hold onto their 2008 cap space plan. Just as they gave up 2007 once Yao Ming and Amare Stoudemire were tied up long term, James is and has always been a major Laker target. If he's off the market, the Lakers are much more likely to make the financial commitments needed to win now.

Workout List
The following players have either worked out with the Lakers or are scheduled to do so:

Kenny Adeleke
Arron Afflalo
Maurice Ager
Morris Almond
Louis Amundson
Jose Juan Barea
Will Blalock
Cedric Bozeman
Dee Brown
Paul Davis
Guillermo Diaz
Mike Efevberha
Jordan Farmar
Nick Fazekas
Thomas Gardener
Taj Gray
Matt Haryasz
Shawn Hawkins
Chris Hernandez
Ryan Hollins
Daniel Horton
Alexander Johnson
Bobby Jones
Daniel Kickert
Tarence Kinsey
Christian Maraker
Gerry McNamara
Paul Milsap
Yemi Nicholson
Steve Novak
Kevin Pittsnogle
Leon Powe
Chris Quinn
Brandon Roy
Julian Sensley
Marcus Vinicius Viera De Souza
James White
Eric Williams
Shawne Williams
Shelden Williams
Tang Zhengdong


Clearly the Lakers are all over the map, as they should be considering that moving up is always a challenge. Were they to pick today, the hope would "seem" to be that Shawne Williams is available at 26 (unclear at this point) and that Syracuse point guard Gerry McNamara is available at 51. With a month to go until the draft, this is expected to change as more players work out and teams become more sincere in trade negotiation.

The Bottom Line
The draft is the first step for the Lakers. Whether they move up or pick at their current positions, what they do in free agency will be dictated by what they get done by the end of June. At 26 and 51, it's not likely the Lakers find pieces that will be able to make an immediate impact. Should they move up, acquiring a veteran in the process, that too will establish the need in free agency. Who the Lakers send out to make a deal would also create new holes in the roster to fill.

The Lakers want to add athleticism, speed, shooting ability to a roster that proved further along than many expected. More importantly, the Lakers want to add players who they believe will fit naturally within the triangle offense. The team clearly needs another guard, preferably one who can defend effectively. They could also use another forward to replace Devean George who isn't expected back at this early stage (certainly that could change).

It's not yet clear if the Lakers prefer Lamar Odom at small forward, especially after his impressive run at the four against the Suns. The guess is that the Lakers will try to acquire the best forward that can, regardless of position, and let Coach Phil Jackson figure out how to piece it together on the floor.

The draft is always an exciting process. A lot can and will happen over the next month . . . and it will set the course for the remainder of the off-season.