While the Los Angeles Lakers don’t hold a second-round draft pick heading into 2019, they need cheap contracts to fill out their roster and potentially could find a quality cost-controlled option in the second round. Given the hit or miss nature of second rounders in the NBA Draft historically, teams are fairly willing to part with the pick and the Lakers could potentially trade a future pick for the chance to move back into the draft and snag a young prospect late.
With that said, let’s take a look at three of the top second-round prospects who could offer some cost-effective help for the Lakers.
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1. Terance Mann, SG – Florida State
As a senior, Mann slips a bit down most NBA mock draft boards mainly due to his age. Possessing a fairly NBA-ready skillset, Mann might not have an incredible ceiling but he should be able to contribute positive minutes relatively quickly.
Mann projects best to be a “three and D” shooting guard at the next level. With solid size 6’6″, long arms, and a track record of being a defensive leader at FSU, Mann can likely slide in and defend the perimeter from day one. He has proven to be a more reliable three-point shooter as well and upped his percentage to a career-best 39% in his senior season.
While Mann leaves a bit to be desired offensively, he won’t have to shoulder much of an offensive workload on the Lakers and would mostly be relegated to spacing the floor and playing hard-nosed perimeter defense. He might not be an immediate plug and play from day one – few second rounders are – but looks to be the type of player who could quickly find himself a spot in the Laker rotation.
2. Eric Paschall, PF – Villanova
Being an undersized senior is what forces Villanova’s Eric Paschall so far down draft boards. Despite his strong production and winning track record, Paschall is only 6’7″ and has some scouts worried about his ability to physically match up at the next level.
Coming off of a career year at Villanova, Eric Paschall looks to be a solid weapon to help space the floor on the offensive end. While he isn’t a lights out three point shooter, he hits the shot with decent consistency (35%) and his athleticism makes him a dangerous weapon as either a pick and pop guy or roll man. The Lakers need bigs who can step out behind the line and open up driving lanes and Paschall seems to fit that mold perfectly.
While he was a solid defender at Villanova, defense is Paschall’s biggest question mark heading into the NBA Draft. He struggled to defend larger players at the college level and in the NBA, he won’t find too many power forwards much smaller than 6’7″. If Paschall can find a way to become a solid stopper at the next level, he should offer a ton of upside for years to come.
3. Miye Oni, SG – Yale
The only non-senior on this list, Miye Oni could still decide to turn back and head to Yale for his senior season at the time of this writing. He is a fringe second round/undrafted prospect, however, scouts have recently started taking notice of the Ivy League monster and his stock is rapidly rising. With good size (6’6″) and excellent athleticism, Oni is a bit raw but has the tools to at least run at the NBA level.
Oni is a fantastic all-around talent at the shooting guard position and someone who can fill up a stat sheet in nearly every category. While it may take a bit for his scoring to translate at the NBA level, at the very least he can step in immediately and rebound, defend, and pass the ball extremely well.
That said, the reason he is going so low is mainly due to the fact that he hasn’t faced much legitimate competition in college and struggled in his NCAA tournament showing this year. His upside is tantalizing though and as long as Oni keeps his name in the NBA Draft, don’t be surprised to see a number of teams make a play for his services late in the second round.
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Lakers NBA Draft: 3 Second Round Trade Targets