Rumors are swirling that the Los Angeles Lakers promised to pick Vanderbilt guard Darius Garland with the fourth pick in the NBA Draft. An elite shooter, Garland provides an immediate fix to one of the Lakers biggest issues. A surefire top-3 pick if he hadn’t gotten injured last season, Garland has the potential to be one of the biggest surprises in what is considered a fairly weak draft outside of Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and RJ Barrett.
Although he only played in five games last season and has an extremely limited sample size, he set the college game on fire to the tune of a 47.8% shooting percentage from deep. With the ability to thrive shooting off the dribble, off screens, or in catch and shoot situations, Garland has BY FAR the most NBA ready shot in the entire draft class.
WATCH: Lakers’ Draft Target Darius Garland Shows Off Ridiculous Range
What do y’all think about Darius Garland? 👀
Garland decided to get some work in at Crespi Carmelite High School in Southern California and show off his incredible shooting range before the draft. While Garland starts by firing off around NBA range, he slowly works his way back to the logo where he casually ripped off four shots, all of which he sank.
While we haven’t gotten to see Garland’s shooting in game situations for a while, it would be safe to say that he hasn’t gotten worse. If anything, Garland’s release looks a bit quicker compared to when he was at Vanderbilt.
Other Los Angeles Lakers’ Draft Targets
Beyond Garland, there are two other prospects that find themselves most frequently associated with the Lakers – Jarrett Culver and De’Andre Hunter.
Jarrett Culver is a supremely athletic shooting guard out of Texas Tech. Known for his two-way prowess, Culver is extremely effective at forcing turnovers on the defensive end and creating havoc in the transition game. While his outside shooting was a bit shaky last season (30%), most of that can be attributed to the fact that he played in a VERY stagnant offensive system without any reliable help to help lighten the load. As a result, Culver often found himself taking contested threes with the shot clock running out, meaning his shooting percentage from deep PROBABLY isn’t as bad as it is cracked up to be.
Regarding Hunter, he projects to be a bit more of a traditional ‘3 and D’ wing. With excellent size and an NBA-ready frame, Hunter is one of the more NBA-ready players available in the draft and while he might not have the tantalizing upside of Garland, provides a much safer floor. Hunter’s game won’t blow anyone away and he is far from the “sexiest” pick in this draft but he looks to be an ideal player to slot in alongside playmakers LeBron James and Lonzo Ball.
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WATCH: Lakers’ Draft Target Darius Garland Shows Off Ridiculous Range