Pardon the San Andreas reference, but the seismic ramifications of the 2015 NBA Draft will emanate from El Segundo, Calif.
That is where the Lakers are headquartered, and that is where Jim and Jeannie Buss together with Mitch Kupchak will decide who the purple and gold will take with the No. 2 pick Thursday night. Our latest Mock Draft has them taking D’Angelo Russell of Ohio State, although the consensus on other Mock Draft sites is that they will go for Jahlil Okafor of Duke.
No matter which of those scenarios takes place, there will be a ripple effect.
If the pick is Russell, it will put the Sixers in a bind with the No. 3 pick. Do they go for a big man for the third straight year after taking Nerlens Noal and Joel Embiid the past two Junes, thus keeping Okafor out of the hands of the New York Knicks, who pick fourth? Do they take Kristaps Porzingis, who is not even the best European prospect? Do they take Emmanual Mudiay, adding a backcourt star to a team that finished the season with Isaiah Canaan running the point?
So many questions.
The latest intel I am receiving is that the New York Knicks are only enamored of one player who is projected to be a top four pick: Okafor. If he is off the board by the time the No. 4 pick comes up, chances are that Phil Jackson will trade down to restock a bare cupboard that contains no first- or second-round picks in 2016. As I have outlined before, the Celtics and Sixers are best positioned to make a run at Phil’s pick, offering multiple firsts in future drafts and/or multiple seconds in this draft.
Among the players the Knicks like and could get their hands on in the teens are Trey Lyles, Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekkar and Cliff Alexander.
More on the trickle down effect of the Lakers’ pick in this interview with CineSport’s Noah Coslov.
Chris Sheridan is publisher and editor-in-chief of SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.