The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired a first-round draft pick that they can use to add a young prospect to their team or potentially as a trade piece to acquire another star player. Initially, this pick could have been taken by the New Orleans Pelicans this year, but they have chosen to defer it until the 2025 draft. Instead, they will take the Lakers’ selection in next year’s draft. The Lakers now have the 17th and 55th picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, while New Orleans still holds the No. 21 selection in the first round.
The decision to defer the pick until next year is likely a strategic move by New Orleans. The 2025 draft class is anticipated to be more talented than this year’s, with top prospects like Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Rutgers’ Dylan Harper, and French guard Nolan Traore expected to headline that class. Even if the Pelicans don’t end up with one of the top stars, the overall talent pool in 2025 is expected to be deeper.
Yahoo Sports NBA draft analyst Krysten Peek has Miami’s Kyshawn George ranked as the 17th-best player on her 2024 NBA Draft Big Board. George, a 6-foot-8 guard from the Hurricanes, had a solid freshman season, averaging 7.6 points, three rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 41% on 3-pointers. In a recent mock draft, Peek had projected Duke center Kyle Filipowski to go at No
