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The Los Angeles Lakers got a steal on the first day of the 2026 NBA Draft when they traded their No. 25 pick for the rights to Cameron Carr, a dynamic guard out of Baylor University who was taken with the No. 24 pick. On Wednesday, they eyed another steal.
They started the day without a pick in the second round of the draft, but they acquired the No. 56 selection from the Chicago Bulls. They then traded the rights to Vsevolod Ishchenko, the player they took with that pick, to the Dallas Mavericks for cash.
Getting rid of the No. 56 pick after acquiring it from another team was a head-scratching move for Lakers fans, but there was a reason that series of events went down, according to NBA insider Brett Siegel. The Lakers were eyeing Henri Veesaar, a big man out of the University of North Carolina, and were actually hoping to trade up in order to take him.
In the end, Veesaar was taken at No. 52 by the Los Angeles Clippers and then sent to the Atlanta Hawks. Veesaar's agent reportedly steered the seven-footer away from Los Angeles.
Veesaar would've been an interesting center prospect for the Lakers to develop. He isn't a freakish athlete, but he's a fluid one who is mobile and has a nice offensive touch, especially from the outside. He is also a nice finisher around the basket and is a lob threat, which could've made him a decent fit alongside Luka Doncic.
The 22-year-old averaged 17 points on 60.8% overall shooting and 42.6% from 3-point range, 8.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 blocks a game this past season for the Tar Heels. He will head to a young and pesky new-look Hawks team that went 46-36 this season and won 19 of its last 24 regular-season games.
At the very least, this shows that Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers' front office were trying to draft based on need rather than taking someone who plays a position they're already strong at.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers' target in second round of NBA draft revealed
Continue reading...
They started the day without a pick in the second round of the draft, but they acquired the No. 56 selection from the Chicago Bulls. They then traded the rights to Vsevolod Ishchenko, the player they took with that pick, to the Dallas Mavericks for cash.
Getting rid of the No. 56 pick after acquiring it from another team was a head-scratching move for Lakers fans, but there was a reason that series of events went down, according to NBA insider Brett Siegel. The Lakers were eyeing Henri Veesaar, a big man out of the University of North Carolina, and were actually hoping to trade up in order to take him.
In the end, Veesaar was taken at No. 52 by the Los Angeles Clippers and then sent to the Atlanta Hawks. Veesaar's agent reportedly steered the seven-footer away from Los Angeles.
Veesaar would've been an interesting center prospect for the Lakers to develop. He isn't a freakish athlete, but he's a fluid one who is mobile and has a nice offensive touch, especially from the outside. He is also a nice finisher around the basket and is a lob threat, which could've made him a decent fit alongside Luka Doncic.
The 22-year-old averaged 17 points on 60.8% overall shooting and 42.6% from 3-point range, 8.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 blocks a game this past season for the Tar Heels. He will head to a young and pesky new-look Hawks team that went 46-36 this season and won 19 of its last 24 regular-season games.
At the very least, this shows that Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers' front office were trying to draft based on need rather than taking someone who plays a position they're already strong at.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers' target in second round of NBA draft revealed
Continue reading...
