Breathe easy, Los Angeles Lakers fans. The Lakers landed in the top three of the lottery, which means the franchise will keep its pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. The Lakers finished with the No. 2 selection, while the Philadelphia 76ers will pick first. L.A. also had the second-best odds in the lottery entering the night.
The Lakers keep their selection in the 2016 NBA Draft, pick No. 2
The Los Angeles Lakers got some much-needed luck in the lottery on Tuesday night.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Had the Lakers’ pick fallen outside of the top three, the pick would have been sent to the 76ers. The Lakers traded the rights to the pick to the Phoenix Suns in 2012 for Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash. Phoenix sent those rights to Philadelphia in a multi-team trade that netted the Suns point guard Brandon Knight and sent former Sixers point guard Michael Carter-Williams to Milwaukee.
The Lakers will have the easiest choice of the 2016 draft. Duke wing Brandon Ingram and LSU forward Ben Simmons are the consensus top two players in the draft. Whichever one Philadelphia passes on, the Lakers will be able to select.
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Why the Lakers kept their high draft pick
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