Ever since the Los Angeles Lakers landed the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft for the second straight year, everyone has assumed the pick would be used on one of two players.
The narrative has been that whoever the Philadelphia 76ers pass on between Brandon Ingram and Ben Simmons with the top pick, that’s who the Lakers will select at No. 2. All signs have pointed to the Sixers selecting Simmons, leaving Ingram for the Lakers, seeing as the rest of the draft class is in a lower tier than the likes of those two prospects.
Recently, there have been reports that Philly is locked in on Simmons, while the Lakers are set on taking Ingram. However, that is not the message they are sending out to agents, according to Steve Kyler from Basketball Insiders (h/t Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen and Roll).
For whats its worth – Lakers telling agents they are not locked on anyone yet, and will draft the guy they feel fits https://t.co/jZIVOJdXfq
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) June 12, 2016
The narrative said to me was Lakers not guaranteeing anyone is the 2nd pick yet… https://t.co/jZIVOJdXfq
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) June 12, 2016
Thats fine… and I am not in disagreement… but Lakers telling agents they are not there yet. https://t.co/z6nFSVutlM
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) June 12, 2016
The Lakers front office has quite the reputation of keeping things quiet, even if their mind is made up already. Last year, D’Angelo Russell had no idea the Lakers were picking him until NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced it up on the NBA Draft stage.
While this year seems more obvious of a pick, with virtually every mock draft projecting Ingram to the Lakers, it makes sense that the front office does not want to tip their hand, keeping every option on the table until a decision needs to be made.
Even if they have their hearts set on Ingram, the message they are sending suggests that they are still surveying all of their options. Whether or not that is true, we will all find out for sure on June 23.
