In the eyes of several NBA executives, the odds of the Los Angeles Lakers keeping their first-round draft pick were at "100 percent."
The executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they didn't want to suggest there was something nefarious going on between the league and one of its more famous franchises, weren't the least bit surprised when the Lakers secured the No. 2 overall pick during the draft lottery Tuesday night.
And the consensus is that the Lakers will select former UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball with that pick on June 22.
"C'mon, man. We all knew the Lakers were not going to lose their pick," said one Eastern Conference executive whose team was not in the lottery. "It was 100 percent going to happen for them. Please!"
The Lakers had the third-best odds (46.9 percent) of getting a top-three pick. Their odds of securing the second pick were 15.7 percent. If the Lakers had dropped out of the top three, they would have lost the pick.
"The Lakers are in great shape," said another NBA team executive whose team was in the lottery. "They get either Markelle Fultz or they get Ball. Or the Lakers could trade that pick, but they are not going to trade it. I see Fultz going No. 1 to Boston and Ball to the Lakers. That's how the Ball family wants it."
Philadelphia, which was on course to get the Lakers' pick had it fallen out of the top three, will pick third and Phoenix, which went into the lottery with the second-best odds (55.8 percent) of getting a top-three pick, will go fourth.
"It's a point-guard heavy draft," a Western Conference executive said. "And you have all those small forwards. You could see maybe eight All-Stars eventually out of this group."
Fultz and Ball, both point guards, are considered the top two picks.
But point guard De'Aaron Fox, small forwards Josh Jackson and Jayson Tatum and shooting guard Malik Monk also are talented.
Here's a look at the Los Angeles Times' mock draft:
