The Lakers are a different draft case than most teams, because the last decade has not been built around stockpiling first-round picks. It has been built around chasing titles and chasing stars. That approach has meant fewer chances at the top of the draft, more picks moved for veterans, and more pressure on the few first-rounders they actually kept.
That is why the Lakers’ first-round history in this window is so interesting. When a team is in “win now” mode, a pick is rarely given two or three quiet years to figure it out. If the player cannot help quickly, he either falls out of the rotation or becomes trade ballast. Even the successful picks are usually measured differently: not only “how good did he become,” but “did he become good fast enough to matter for the Lakers’ timeline.”
With that in mind, this piece breaks down every Lakers first-round pick from the last 10 drafts and grades each one in clear terms: Great, Good, or Bust.
2016 NBA Draft
Brandon Ingram – 2nd Pick
Stats: 13.9 PTS, 4.7 REB, 2.9 AST, 0.5 BLK, 0.6 STL, 43.7% FG, 32.9% 3PT
Brandon Ingram was the rare Lakers lottery pick who checked two boxes at once: he became a real player, and he became valuable enough to headline a franchise-defining trade. The Lakers drafted him as a long forward who could score like a wing, and the early years were exactly what rebuilding teams live with: uneven nights, flashes that looked special, and a steady climb from “project” to “starter.”
The rookie year was rough around the edges. He averaged 9.4 points in 79 games on 40.2% shooting and 29.4% from three, and the physical adjustment was obvious. But the growth from Year 1 to Year 2 was real. In 2017-18, he jumped to 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists while shooting 47.0% from the field and 39.0% from three. That season is the best explanation of why the Lakers stayed patient: the handle got tighter, the finishing improved, and the playmaking started to look like more than a bonus.
By 2018-19, Ingram had reached “featured scorer” territory on a nightly basis. He averaged 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 52 games, then the Lakers moved him in the Anthony Davis deal the following summer. That trade detail matters for grading. For a No. 2 pick, “Great” is usually a star who carries the franchise. Ingram did not become that in a Lakers uniform. But he became good enough, fast enough, that the Lakers could cash him in for a superstar and immediately shift into a title window.
That is a successful pick. It is not perfect, and it did not end with an Ingram-led Lakers era, but it produced real value on the floor and even more value in the market.
Rating: Great
2017 NBA Draft
Lonzo Ball – 2nd Pick
Stats: 10.0 PTS, 6.2 REB, 6.4 AST, 0.6 BLK, 1.5 STL, 38.0% FG, 31.5% 3PT
A No. 2 pick is supposed to give a franchise a clear lead-guard future. Lonzo Ball never became that kind of scorer for the Lakers, but the pick also was not a waste. He gave them real NBA-level guard play in the areas that actually help teams win possessions: passing, rebounding, and disruptive defense.
Ball’s Lakers line tells the story of his strengths and his limitations at the same time. In 99 games, he averaged 10.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 6.4 assists, with 1.5 steals per game. He pushed tempo, he threw hit-ahead passes that created easy offense, and he defended with activity that showed up in the steal rate. When the Lakers got stops, he was built to turn those into quick points.
The problem was the half-court ceiling. His shooting never stabilized in that uniform, finishing at 38.0% from the field and 31.5% from three. That limited how much pressure he could apply late in possessions, especially when defenses could sag and live with the jumper. For a top-two pick, that is a real gap, because the playoffs are mostly half-court basketball.
The other piece is that the development arc never had clean continuity. Two seasons and 99 total games is not enough runway for a young guard to build consistency, especially one whose swing skill is shooting confidence and touch. The flashes were real, but the curve never got time to settle.
Still, there is a reason this lands as a positive outcome and not a bust. Ball held enough league value to be part of the Anthony Davis trade package, which means the Lakers did not just draft a player, they drafted an asset that helped open a title window. That is not what teams hope for at No. 2, but it is still a functional result.
Rating: Good
Kyle Kuzma – 27th Pick
Stats: 15.2 PTS, 5.6 REB, 1.9 AST, 0.5 BLK, 0.6 STL, 45.4% FG, 33.1% 3PT
The easiest way to judge the No. 27 pick is to ask a simple question: Did he become a real rotation player on a team that actually had stakes? Kyle Kuzma did, and he did it across two completely different Lakers contexts.
Early on, he was more than just “useful for a late first.” He produced immediately and gave the Lakers a reliable source of scoring nights. Over his Lakers stint, the career line sits at 15.2 points and 5.6 rebounds across 276 games, which is a big sample of real production for a pick that late.
Then the Lakers shifted into win-now basketball, and Kuzma’s job changed. He had to play smaller offensively, defend more difficult matchups, rebound, cut, and stay ready without being a featured option every night. That part is what separates “stats guy” from “real team player,” and Kuzma stayed in the mix.
The championship piece cannot be skipped. Kuzma was on the 2019-20 Lakers team that won the title, and he played a real role in that season’s rotation, even if it was not always consistent game to game. For a No. 27 pick, being a legitimate rotation forward on a title team is basically the best version of the outcome.
This is a clear late-first hit: years of production, plus meaningful minutes when the Lakers were actually trying to win at the highest level.
Rating: Great
Josh Hart – 30th Pick
Stats: 7.9 PTS, 3.9 REB, 1.3 AST, 0.3 BLK, 0.7 STL, 44.7% FG, 36.7% 3PT
With the last pick of Round 1, the Lakers drafted Josh Hart and basically got exactly what teams want at No. 30: a simple, playable role guy. He did not need touches, he competed defensively, and he brought effort that held up even when the roster changed around him.
Hart’s Lakers numbers are modest, but they fit the profile. In 130 games, he averaged 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 36.7% from three. That three-point number matters because it kept him from being ignored, and it made his energy minutes feel clean instead of cramped.
The real value was how he played. Hart rebounded well for a guard; he ran the floor hard, and he made the “extra” plays that coaches trust. Those guys rarely become stars, but they become part of functional lineups, which is the entire target range for the end of the first round.
And like Ball, he did not only have on-court value. Hart became a real trade asset, included in the Anthony Davis deal. For pick No. 30 to turn into both rotation minutes and market value is a strong outcome.
Rating: Great
2018 NBA Draft
Moritz Wagner – 25th Pick
Stats: 4.8 PTS, 2.0 REB, 0.6 AST, 0.3 BLK, 0.3 STL, 41.5% FG, 28.6% 3PT
The Lakers used the 25th pick on Moritz Wagner as a modern big bet: a center who could space the floor, move the ball a little, and stay playable in faster lineups. In theory, that is exactly the type of late first-round swing that fits a roster trying to build around stars, because the role is clear and the skill set can scale.
In practice, his Lakers stint never got off the ground. Wagner played 43 games as a rookie and averaged 4.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in 10.4 minutes. The efficiency was not a separator either. He shot 41.5% from the field and 28.6% from three, which is a rough combination for a spacing big whose main selling point is making defenses pay for ignoring him.
There were flashes of what the pick was supposed to become. He could run the floor, he had touch around the rim, and he showed some feel as a passer in short windows. But he was not a consistent rotation option, and the Lakers were not in a patient development timeline.
By the time the roster shifted into a title chase, there was no realistic path for him to play meaningful minutes. Even with him becoming an actual core piece of the Magic’s rotation as they aim for a playoff run, Wagner never showed those flashes for the Lakers with such a short timeline.
The transaction history is the clean conclusion. After one season, Wagner was included in the Anthony Davis trade package and moved out. He later carved out a real NBA career elsewhere, which matters for evaluating the player, but this series is grading what the pick became for the Lakers. In that uniform, the team did not get production, playoff usefulness, or a real development payoff.
For a 25th pick, “Good” can be a steady bench big who survives matchups. The Lakers did not get that. Although he eventually became a player the Lakers would love to have right now, in his early stint, he was far from reaching his standards.
Rating: Bust
2023 NBA Draft
Jalen Hood-Schifino – 17th Pick
Stats: 1.7 PTS, 0.6 REB, 0.4 AST, 0.1 BLK, 0.1 STL, 22.2% FG, 13.3% 3PT
Jalen Hood-Schifino was drafted as a size-and-skill guard bet, the kind of pick that is supposed to develop behind veterans and eventually grow into a playable rotation connector. The Lakers took him 17th, and the idea was clear: a bigger ball-handler who could run pick-and-roll, get to pull-ups, and hold his own defensively against stronger guards.
The problem is that the Lakers never got a real on-court return. In his entire Lakers stint, Hood-Schifino appeared in 23 games and averaged 1.7 points in 5.2 minutes, with extremely low shooting percentages in that small sample. Even for a rookie, that is not “slow start” production. It is “not in the rotation” production, which is a tough place to be as a mid-first pick on a team that needs cheap contributors.
Health is a big part of why the story stalled. Hood-Schifino had a back issue that required a lumbar microdiscectomy in March 2024, and that kind of surgery tends to wipe out the exact development time young guards need most. Once the development runway is disrupted, the Lakers’ context makes it even harder, because the team rarely has the luxury to carry a long-term project through mistakes and minutes.
The Lakers eventually moved on from the pick as an asset rather than a player they were building with. By early 2025, he had been traded out to the Jazz as a side part of the Doncic deal, and never played another game for the Lakers. For the 17th pick, “Good” usually means at least becoming a stable bench piece. That never happened here.
Rating: Bust
2024 NBA Draft
Dalton Knecht – 17th Pick
Stats: 2024-25: 9.1 PTS, 2.8 REB, 0.9 AST, 37.6% 3PT | 2025-26: 4.6 PTS, 1.5 REB, 0.3 AST, 44.7% FG, 31.3% 3PT
The Lakers drafted Dalton Knecht at No. 17 to get immediate shooting and plug-and-play scoring, not a long development project. The rookie season had enough proof of concept to understand the vision, including the kind of one-night explosion that only pure shooters can deliver. But the bigger story has been how quickly the situation turned unstable.
The Mark Williams deal in February 2025 is the pivot point. Knecht was set to be sent out in that trade, but the deal was rescinded after Williams failed his physical, sending Knecht back into the locker room in the middle of a season. That sort of episode matters because it is not just “trade rumors.” It changes how a player is viewed internally and externally, and it can mess with role and rhythm for months.
This season has been the clearest sign that the Lakers have not gotten consistent value from the pick. Knecht is at 4.6 points in 43 games, with 31.3% from three, which is a tough combination for a player drafted primarily to space the floor. He has also bounced in and out of the rotation, including time in the G League, which is not where a second-year mid-first is supposed to be if the fit is clean.
By late January, a report said Knecht asked for a trade ahead of the deadline, and the broader deadline reporting painted him as a name the Lakers explored in talks even if nothing materialized. For a No. 17 pick, “Good” is usually a stable rotation piece by Year 2. Right now, Knecht looks more like an unresolved pick than a clear hit for the Lakers. I love his game, and on a rebuilding team, I’m sure he’d be a certified starter now. But for the Lakers, he’s never looked like a future piece.
Rating: Bust
Final Thoughts
Over the last 10 drafts (2016–2025), the Lakers had five years where they did not end the night with a first-round pick.
In 2019, the Lakers’ first-round slot ended up at No. 4 and was used on De’Andre Hunter after the pick had already been routed as part of the Anthony Davis trade framework. In 2020, the Lakers made the No. 28 selection (Jaden McDaniels) only to move the rights the same night in the Dennis Schroder deal. In 2021, the No. 22 selection (Isaiah Jackson) was also a draft-night move tied to the Russell Westbrook trade.
In 2022, there was no Lakers first-round pick to use, because that first-rounder had already been committed from the Anthony Davis deal, with No. 8 Dyson Daniels going to New Orleans. And in 2025, the Lakers again did not own a first-round pick. Their original 2025 first-rounder became the No. 22 pick and was used on Drake Powell.
When the Lakers actually did draft and keep first-rounders in this stretch, the outcomes are easier to bucket.
The Great hits were Brandon Ingram (2016), plus the 2017 late-first double win of Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart. Ingram did not finish the story in a Lakers uniform, but as a No. 2 pick, he still became a real high-level asset, which is the entire point of that slot. Kuzma and Hart, for where they were taken, gave the Lakers real rotation value, and Kuzma’s title-year minutes are a major part of why that pick is a clear win.
The Good tier, so far, is Lonzo Ball (2017). As the No. 2 pick, he did not become the offensive engine you ideally want, but he still provided starting-level guard value and held enough market value to be part of the star-timeline pivot.
The Bust tier, based strictly on Lakers return, is Moritz Wagner (2018), Jalen Hood-Schifino (2023), and Dalton Knecht (2024). Wagner never became rotation-stable in that uniform. Hood-Schifino’s Lakers sample stayed tiny and never turned into usable minutes. Knecht is the tricky one because he has real shooting talent, but the Lakers’ outcome has been unstable and noisy, including the rescinded trade episode and the lack of consistent Year 2 production relative to what a No. 17 pick is supposed to become.
