The Los Angeles Lakers may prefer Kentucky freshman Karl-Anthony Towns over Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor in the 2015 NBA draft. If the Lakers land a top-five pick in the draft lottery, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne believes they may go with Towns because of his greater upside.
While most people believe Okafor is the top player of the 2015 draft, the Lakers - if given the chance - may actually prefer to go with Towns.
"(Karl-Anthony Towns) has the higher ceiling," Shelburne said Monday on ESPN Radio, according to LakersNation.com. "... I'm telling you half the league would pick Karl first. Yes. He has the much higher ceiling. Okafor is the more ready to play guy right now. He's the guy that'll help you sooner, faster. Like if (New York Knicks president Phil Jackson) gets the number one pick, he's probably taking Okafor in New York because he can't wait around."
Okafor is still the consensus No. 1 pick of the draft, but Towns is closing in. The 6-foot-11 Wildcat has been praised all season for his defense, but his offense is finally beginning to catch up. Most mock drafts have him as the second or the third pick of the draft, but stringing together some strong offensive performances in the 2015 NCAA Tournament could give him the necessary nudge over projected No. 2 pick D'Angelo Russell and maybe even Okafor.
ESPN's Chad Ford admitted Towns's stock is on the rise, but still gave the edge to Okafor.
"Okafor has been No. 1 all year in our Top 100. While his grip on the title of consensus No. 1 pick has loosened considerably thanks to the play of Karl-Anthony Towns, Okafor's performance continues to give him the slight lead among NBA scouts and GMs to be the No. 1 pick," ESPN's Chad Ford wrote Monday. "Okafor remains the most offensively dominant big man to go into the draft in a while."
The Lakers, of course, need to land a top-five pick in the lottery in order to retain it. Anything higher than a No. 5 pick would go to the Phoenix Suns as part of the 2012 trade that brought Steve Nash to Los Angeles.
In other Lakers news, coach Byron Scott hasn't ruled out re-signing guard Jeremy Lin in free agency this summer.
