LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers stayed put in the NBA draft on Wednesday night, using the 28th pick in the first round to select Jaden McDaniels of Washington, all the while knowing he would be heading to Oklahoma City as part of the trade to acquire guard Dennis Schroder in a deal that took place on Sunday.
The Thunder, though, made a deal earlier on draft day to move that selection to the Minnesota Timberwolves. So the big man from the Huskies will be headed to Minnesota.
The Lakers had to technically make their first-round pick before the trade could be completed since teams can't trade first-round picks in consecutive years.
The Lakers also sent guard Danny Green to the Thunder as part of the Schroder deal.
But Green, an NBA champion with three teams, would be traded twice in a week, having been rerouted by the Thunder to the Philadelphia 76ers for center Al Horford, according to reports earlier Wednesday.
In Schroder, the Lakers get a point guard who was the second-leading scorer for the Thunder last season in a reserve role, which led to his nomination as sixth man of the year. Schroder came in second in the voting to the Los Angeles Clippers' Montrezl Harrell.
Schroder, who plays with speed and toughness, is a good defender despite his slight frame of 6 feet 1 and 172 pounds. He averaged 18.9 points, 4.0 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game last season. He shot 46.7% from the field, 38.5% from three-point range.
