The Los Angeles Lakers will have the 22nd pick in the 2021 NBA draft following the tiebreaker process conducted by the league.
Because of the condensed 72-game regular season, many teams finished the campaign with identical records, causing the NBA to find a way to sort the draft order.
The league decided to use coin flips to break the various ties, and the Lakers were among 14 teams that needed to be sorted.
Los Angeles finished 42-30 and in a three-way tie with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Dallas Mavericks for the 21st pick.
However, Portland had traded its pick to the Houston Rockets, and Dallas dealt its to the New York Knicks, so their picks need to be conveyed.
Depending on the coin flip results, two of the three teams would pick 22nd and 23rd overall. The winner of the tiebreaker would select 21st.
The NBA conducted those coin flips today, and the Lakers will pick at No. 22, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
NBA Draft tiebreaker results:
No. 21: Dallas&
No. 22 pick: LA Lakers
No. 23 pick: Portland Trailblazers*&Will be conveyed to New York
*Will be conveyed to Houston— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 25, 2021
Los Angeles hasn’t possessed a draft pick of its own in quite some time because they dealt many of them to the New Orleans Pelicans in order to acquire Anthony Davis.
This pick would’ve gone to New Orleans if the Lakers had a top-seven pick in the draft. However, the selection was protected if it fell within picks eight to 30, the Lakers keep it.
L.A. had the 28th overall pick in the 2020 draft, but they traded the pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder, along with Danny Green, to bring in Dennis Schroder.
