Recent speculation has that former Vanderbilt PG Darius Garland dropped out of the NBA Combine because he has received a ‘promise’ from an early drafting team. It could be the Los Angeles Lakers, which could make the Phoenix Suns trade partners.
Strangely enough, when the Los Angeles Lakers moved up to number four overall in the NBA Draft via the Lottery (oh! the humanity!), in a way, that launch might actually be a detriment to their ability to become a potential championship contender in one offseason.
LeBron James is only getting older (including playoffs, he has played in a total of 19 seasons in only 16 years, and is now 34-years-old), and any more lost seasons is only a loss of the prime of one of the greatest players of all-time.
The Lakers have no time for developing young players and need to acquire above-average veteran talent on the roster ASAP to build themselves into a contender before the start of training camp in August.
Jumping up to number four should be a positive as it means that they are going to have the chance to draft a solidly talented player, however, as they did not move into the top-three, they will not have the opportunity to select one of the three blue chip players in Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and R.J. Barrett – the only three prospects who project to be impact players right away.
At the moment, it appears that Vanderbilt’s Darius Garland is considered the fourth best player in the draft, and the potential selection for the Lakers.
This is the same player who is only one year removed from high school, and due to injury, only appeared in five total games in college – and while he looked really good in those five games, they were all non-conference matchups and are really no guarantee that he will be able to step in and take over the offensive reigns of a LeBron James-centric team.
Could they trade that pick as part of a package for a star player?
Sure, but the question is who? It appears that New Orleans will not budge on trading Anthony Davis (let alone to the Lakers), and especially now that the Pels have Zion Williamson about to enter the fold, they are probably going to attempt one more year of smoothing out relations before he becomes an unrestricted fee agent in 2020.
All of which leads us to the first day of the NBA Draft Combine in which Garland unexpectedly backed out, with the rumor that he has been given a promise already of a draft position in the top of the draft – and with numbers one through three already all but written in stone, the only logical location that would have made such a guarantee is the Los Angeles Lakers.
So what happens next for L.A.?
Could this mean that the Lakers will select Garland to play behind Lonzo Ball?
My gut says: no.
Why would the Lakers waste a roster spot on a top-four draft pick who is going to sit behind another young point guard who at the moment has not proven that he is going to develop into the kind of player that one might have believed he would be when originally selected second overall.
Again, L.A. needs to improve the team now, and having Garland sit behind young Ball who couldn’t help guide the Lakers to the playoffs last season just doesn’t make sense.
So, could the Lakers have a plan for acquiring a veteran point guard, say, Kemba Walker or Kyrie Irving in free agency (or sign-and-trade), or Mike Conley in trade, any one of whom would absolutely be an upgrade over both Ball and Garland immediately?
That scenario makes a lot more sense to me, which in at least the case of signing a point guard outright in free agency, makes Lonzo Ball immediately expendable.
Phoenix Suns
Remember too: Lonzo Ball was Magic Johnson‘s guy. Magic said he saw a little bit of himself in Ball. They were going to work together to create the next incarnation of ShowTime.
Lonzo was supposed to be his heir apparent.
But now Magic is gone.
There is a troubling (eh, exciting) amount of turmoil in the organization. They have a new head coach(s).
And in the end: they need to be built around LeBron James who needs to be in possession of the (basket)ball, and (Lonzo) Ball is not a great shooter.
Lonzo could be a bit of a Magic-type player in a fast-paced offense where he is the primary ball-handler and is either constantly looking to distribute or drive it to the hole.
When he is waiting for LeBron to make a decision, he hangs out on the wing – where he is least efficient.
If the Lakers have promised Garland their draft spot, they do not expect him to be the player to lead the Lakers to the promised land, but they might have high enough hopes for him in the future that they cannot pass up on him now, even if they do not necessarily need him, now.
At only 19-years-old (he won’t turn 20 until January), he could easily play behind someone like Walker for the next 3-4 years while the Lakers finish up Lebron’s legacy run, and by the time this era is all finished, he’ll be perfectly groomed to take over the spot and be a centerpiece for the following decade (obviously presuming that he is that good).
In which case, L.A. won’t want Lonzo Ball on the roster as well, taking up a third (and relatively expensive) point guard spot, meaning he will have to be moved.
Enter the Phoenix Suns.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve said it before, but only because it makes Perfect sense
Yes, we have written about this a number of times (and even discussed the topic briefly here recently), but the addition of the new rumor of Garland’s ‘promise’ makes things all too real now that Ball’s days with the Lakers may be numbered.
Granted, there is no guarantee that the Suns will be able to pull off a trade. There are a million variables involved, the first one being that no one yet knows if Garland really has been given a promise and if that promise came from L.A.
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However, it does not hurt at all Phoenix’s chances to make a deal if this can be a reality knowing that they need a point guard, they have players that they could potentially move to make the deal happen (if the Lakers do not necessarily need to move a player to clear up cap space, a one-for-one T.J. Warren for Lonzo Ball trade should work for both teams – although, in that case I do think that the Lakers would have to throw in a future protected first round pick), and LaVar Ball has already made his infamous comments that he wanted to speak into existence a Lonzo trade to the Suns.
If that was not entirely bluster (like Kobe Bryant‘s statement that he wanted to be traded to the Phoenix Suns in 2007), then that connection is something that should be taken seriously even now.
There is no doubt that the backcourt pairing of Ball and Devin Booker would be exciting, and while Lonzo is not the best shooter in the league, his passing ability is something that cannot be ignored – and we all know that it was the team’s point guard’s collective inability to get Deandre Ayton the ball in the appropriate spots last season that killed his chances to really dominate in his rookie season.
The addition of Ball does not a playoff team make.
However, he does make them better, and presuming that Phoenix is then in turn able to retain Kelly Oubre and add another intricate piece elsewhere (they still have their own 6th overall pick to play with, whether it is to select someone or move the pick for veteran help), a potential lineup including Ball, Booker, Kelly, and Ayton, is a really good starting point moving forward.
At the moment, no one is really sure why Garland backed out of the Draft Combine and whether or not the rumored ‘promise’ is from the L.A. Lakers.
However, it all seems to make too much sense, and if the Phoenix Suns can take advantage and trade for Lonzo Ball, he can be the piece that helps the Suns take that next step as a young, up-and-coming team, who truly is a point guard away from seeing what the current Young Suns can really accomplish together.