Kristaps Porzingis NBA Draft Smokescreens Probably Mean the Lakers Like D'Angelo Russell

Did you hear over the weekend? With less than two weeks to the 2015 NBA draft, the fastest rising player is 19-year old – stop me if you’re heard this one before – Dirk Nowitzki clone Kristaps Porzingis! He’s 7-feet tall, has a smooth outside game, and is perfect for small-ball teams that are looking for a stretch four who is more than capable of playing pick-and-pop, too.

Draft scuttle: Hearing Porzingis not only in play for Philly at No. 3 but now giving Lakers something to ponder at No. 2. Stock rising fast
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 13, 2015

The Lakers, who “won” the NBA draft lottery when they jumped from 4th to 2nd, are now considering passing on a legit center who already has more offensive game than most NBA bigs right now, Jahlil Okafor, to take a rail thin Euro who probably won’t contribute for a year or two.

Right.

Michael Jordan repeatedly destroyed Kwame Brown mentally in practice when he was a rookie with the Wizards; what would Kobe Bryant do to Porzingis next season?

And hey, Philly, which is no rush at all to be competitive, might as well take another kid who doesn’t have to immediately come to the NBA – 21-year old Dario Saric is currently stashed in Turkey – so they can get back in the lottery and maybe get another high lottery pick!

Classic misdirection.

The top of the draft seems set – Karl Anthony-Towns to Minnesota, and then the Lakers could continue their great tradition of franchise centers – Wilt, Jabbar, Shaq – with Okafor. Or … they could be targeting someone else to usher in a new era of small-ball in the NBA … like D’Angelo Russell.

Russell, if you hadn’t seen the news, called in “sick” to his weekend workout with the 76ers. You could read that several different ways, one being that the Lakers have expressed significant interest in the Ohio State point guard, or even made him a “promise.” Byron Scott claims to abhor the 3-point, but all signs point to it being crucial to NBA success, so a lineup of Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Kobe, a stretch-4 to be named later (Kevin Love!) and Julius Randle are a nice small-ball unit that would give a playmaker like Russell room to operate.

The best way for the Lakers to throw everyone off on their interest in Russell? Float the rumor that the Lakers love the mystery man from Europe who is “killing it” in workouts.