What the Lakers should do at the draft.

In this draft, the Lakers will be looking for a combo guard or a power forward with a bit of nasty in him. I’ve taken into account only players that could fall to the #26 pick; I don’t believe the Lakers will make any trades. I predict the Lakers will pick one of these 6 players.

Guards

• Quincy Douby – 6’3” 175. Lights-out shooter and fantastic scorer. Adequate distributor. His small frame will get him pushed around a bit by bigger players and is just a so-so defender.
• Maurice Ager – 6’4” 200. Athletic, long-armed with a great outside shoot. Strong finisher and ball-handler. Weak rebounder for his size and just a so-so passer.
• Mardy Collins – 6’6” 205. Even at 6-6 played the point and distributed the ball well. A solid defender (like many Temple Owls) with a nose for the ball. Good at many things, but doesn’t profile as being very good at anything. So-so 3-pt shooter and a poor FT shooter.

Forwards

• Alexander Johnson – 6’9” 230. Exceptionally athletic PF from Florida State. Huge wingspan and leaping ability. Very powerful with a nice touch from 12-15ft and can range to 18. Needs to improve his post moves. His stock has been rising and he may not be available at pick 26.
• James Augustine – 6’10” 230. Solid in all facets, not sensational in any. Very smart player with adequate physical tools. Unselfish and good at moving without the ball. Great at the pick-and-roll either going to the basket or stopping and popping. Given his height he should be a better shot-blocker and is just an adequate rebounder.
• Josh Boone – 6’10” 240. Exceptionally athletic and a great shot-blocker. Very little offensive game to speak of right now. Seems like a second-coming of Tyson Chandler.

Were it up to me, I’d rank them like this:

1. Johnson
2. Douby
3. Ager
4. Collins
5. Augustine
6. Boone

We’ll see what they do on Wednesday.

All pictures from draftexpress.com