In a different timeline, the Lakers would have selected Bub Carrington with the No. 17 pick in the NBA Draft, but with him off the board, L.A. went with Dalton Knecht.
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There are so many what-if scenarios in each NBA draft, and the 2024 class is no exception.
We will undoubtedly hear more stories as the years pass, but we already know of one tale from the night surrounding the Lakers.
As Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported, Los Angeles considered Bub Carrington with the No. 17 pick before he was taken off the board.
“Around the time Pitt’s Bub Carrington — a player the Lakers had coveted, sources told ESPN — went No. 14 to the Portland Trail Blazers, Knecht started to look like a real possibility.”
The news that the Lakers would have taken Carrington is new information, but it comes as no surprise.
Multiple mock drafts labeled Carrington as a player the Lakers could take in the first round. He is a guard with tremendous upside and has already shown flashes of it for the Wizards, scoring a season-high 18 points on Nov. 18 against the Knicks.
The interesting question is: Would the Lakers have taken Carrington over Knecht if both were available at No. 17? I guess we’ll never know.
