With the 27th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft the Los Angeles Lakers select Kevon Looney, Forward, UCLA.
RockyMountainWay:
Kevon Looney is easily the best player available at this point, his draft stock fell but the Lakers are thrilled to see him here this deep in the first round at pick 27. Looney is 19 years old and has a lot to work to do on his game but the talent is obvious and his feel for the game is quite good for a freshman. Averaging nearly a double double in his freshman year at UCLA (12 pts and 9 rebounds) is something that stands out right away. His aptitude for rebounding is probably the strongest area of his game right now, the hustle and just his overall physical ability are the reasons why he is so good at grabbing those rebounds.
There is great defensive upside with him as well, with a wingspan of nearly 7'4", he has the length needed to defend around the perimeter and to a lesser extent closer to the rim. Looney also shot 42% from beyond the 3 pt line in 50+ attempts, while it's not a big part of his game, those numbers are encouraging and his shooting form is decent, so he could be a threat to spread the floor. The biggest concerns with Looney are in the post, he doesn't really have much of a post game and his limited strength right now hinders his post defense. Without much of a post game makes him limited on offense and not a very prolific scorer but that could change since he is so young.
Looney played PF mostly at UCLA but in the NBA he could be used even at the 3 in short burst because he has the length and quickness to potentially defend there. So overall Looney is a bit of a project, there's reasons why he could be NBA ready but there's also enough limitations that he might take some time to develop.
How he fits in with the rest of the roster is something to consider and could be questionable at first glance, with Ryan Kelly along with Julius Randle that would leave 3 young guys that could all be competing for playing time at the same position. But with the recent struggles and talent deficiency on the team, you can't be drafting for need. And while they all play the same positions, they have pretty different skill sets; Ryan Kelly is more of a shooter, Randle lives more in the post and is skilled scorer there but not as athletic and long as Looney. The 1,2 combination of Randle and Looney could be a fine one. The Lakers could use a spark and Looney could offer that.
Kobe Bryant’s adam’s apple gave the stern look of approval last time. This time it was our other fan favorite:
