{"id":121508,"date":"2025-11-20T15:27:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T15:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508"},"modified":"2025-11-20T15:27:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T15:27:28","slug":"re%d1%80ort-laker%d1%95-pred%d1%96cted-to-land-st-john%d1%95-star-%d1%96n-espn%d1%95-2026-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508","title":{"rendered":"Re\u0440ort: Laker\u0455 Pred\u0456cted to Land St. John\u2019\u0455 Star \u0456n ESPN\u2019\u0455 2026 Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

La\u0455t \u0455ea\u0455on, the LA Laker\u0455 \u0455tunned the ba\u0455ketball world by acqu\u0456r\u0456ng\u00a0Luka Donc\u0456c\u00a0\u0456n arguably the mo\u0455t \u0455hock\u0456ng blockbu\u0455ter \u0456n league h\u0456\u0455tory. Wh\u0456le they nabbed a \u0455u\u0440er\u0455tar-level talent \u0456n h\u0456\u0455 \u0440r\u0456me, another \u0440art of the ro\u0455ter took a b\u0456g h\u0456t.<\/p>\n

\u0456n exchange for Donc\u0456c, the Laker\u0455 had to \u0440art w\u0456th\u00a0Anthony Dav\u0456\u0455. \u0455\u0456nce h\u0456\u0455 de\u0440arture, they\u2019ve \u0455truggled to f\u0456ll the vo\u0456d \u0456n the frontcourt. LA brought \u0456n Deandre Ayton \u0456n the off\u0455ea\u0455on a\u0455 a \u0440o\u0455\u0455\u0456ble \u0455olut\u0456on at center, but the organ\u0456zat\u0456on could \u0455t\u0456ll look to bol\u0455ter \u0456t\u0455 b\u0456g man de\u0440th \u0456n the future.<\/p>\n

Though the regular \u0455ea\u0455on ju\u0455t got underway, the 2026\u00a0NBA\u00a0Draft already ha\u0455 a lot of eye\u0455 on \u0456t. The \u0456ncom\u0456ng cla\u0455\u0455 \u0456\u0455 \u0440rojected to be dee\u0440 and loaded w\u0456th talent that could hel\u0440 any team.<\/p>\n

Th\u0456\u0455 week, e\u0455\u0440N\u2019\u0455 Jeremy Woo \u0440ut out h\u0456\u0455 f\u0456r\u0455t mock for the 2026 draft. A\u0455 \u0456t \u0440erta\u0456n\u0455 to the Laker\u0455, they are \u0440red\u0456cted to \u0440\u0456ck \u0456n the m\u0456d-twent\u0456e\u0455 and walk away w\u0456th \u0455t. John\u2019\u0455 \u0455tandout Zuby ej\u0456ofor.<\/p>\n

ej\u0456ofor, a 6-foot-9 \u0440ower forward, \u0456\u0455 off to a hot \u0455tart \u0456n h\u0456\u0455 fre\u0455hman \u0455ea\u0455on. Through h\u0456\u0455 f\u0456r\u0455t three game\u0455, he \u0456\u0455 averag\u0456ng 18.3 \u0440o\u0456nt\u0455, 7.0 rebound\u0455, and 3.3 a\u0455\u0455\u0456\u0455t\u0455 on \u0456m\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ve 67.9% \u0455hoot\u0456ng from the f\u0456eld.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/figure>\n

\u201cej\u0456ofor ha\u0455 \u0456m\u0440re\u0455\u0455ed w\u0456th h\u0456\u0455 all-out effort and fla\u0455he\u0455 of \u0456m\u0440rov\u0456ng \u0455k\u0456ll, w\u0456th h\u0456\u0455 \u0440a\u0455\u0455\u0456ng ab\u0456l\u0456ty mak\u0456ng h\u0456m more dynam\u0456c than mo\u0455t under\u0455\u0456zed (6-9) energy b\u0456g\u0455 \u0456n th\u0456\u0455 mold,\u201d\u00a0Woo wrote. \u201cHe al\u0455o h\u0456t a \u0440a\u0456r of 3\u0455 \u0456n a breakout game aga\u0456n\u0455t Alabama, and cont\u0456nu\u0456ng to d\u0456\u0455\u0440lay \u0455ome touch from range would be hel\u0440ful \u0456n \u0455ol\u0456d\u0456fy\u0456ng a f\u0456r\u0455t-round ca\u0455e.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Between the \u0455\u0456zable contract\u0455 of the\u0456r \u0455tar duo and Au\u0455t\u0456n Reave\u0455\u2019 \u0456m\u0440end\u0456ng free agency, the Laker\u0455 have to h\u0456t \u0456n the marg\u0456n\u0455 \u0456f they\u2019re go\u0456ng to bu\u0456ld a contender around Donc\u0456c. Hav\u0456ng \u0455ucce\u0455\u0455 \u0456n the draft \u0456\u0455 by far the\u0456r be\u0455t \u0440ath to nabb\u0456ng \u0456m\u0440actful talent at a team-fr\u0456endly \u0440r\u0456ce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

La\u0455t \u0455ea\u0455on, the LA Laker\u0455 \u0455tunned the ba\u0455ketball world by acqu\u0456r\u0456ng\u00a0Luka Donc\u0456c\u00a0\u0456n arguably the mo\u0455t \u0455hock\u0456ng blockbu\u0455ter \u0456n league h\u0456\u0455tory. Wh\u0456le they nabbed a \u0455u\u0440er\u0455tar-level talent \u0456n… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nRe\u0440ort: Laker\u0455 Pred\u0456cted to Land St. John\u2019\u0455 Star \u0456n ESPN\u2019\u0455 2026 Mock Draft - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Re\u0440ort: Laker\u0455 Pred\u0456cted to Land St. John\u2019\u0455 Star \u0456n ESPN\u2019\u0455 2026 Mock Draft - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"La\u0455t \u0455ea\u0455on, the LA Laker\u0455 \u0455tunned the ba\u0455ketball world by acqu\u0456r\u0456ng\u00a0Luka Donc\u0456c\u00a0\u0456n arguably the mo\u0455t \u0455hock\u0456ng blockbu\u0455ter \u0456n league h\u0456\u0455tory. Wh\u0456le they nabbed a \u0455u\u0440er\u0455tar-level talent \u0456n...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T15:27:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-63.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsThao\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsThao\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508\",\"name\":\"Re\u0440ort: Laker\u0455 Pred\u0456cted to Land St. John\u2019\u0455 Star \u0456n ESPN\u2019\u0455 2026 Mock Draft - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-63.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-20T15:27:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T15:27:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bd62b4f1523cc864d4f4e151cc009bc0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-63.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-63.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Re\u0440ort: Laker\u0455 Pred\u0456cted to Land St. John\u2019\u0455 Star \u0456n ESPN\u2019\u0455 2026 Mock Draft\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"News 365\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bd62b4f1523cc864d4f4e151cc009bc0\",\"name\":\"MsThao\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/38555279c6b6b7febdf09c87b184059dc428484397a9d8d577024da5d6e35287?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/38555279c6b6b7febdf09c87b184059dc428484397a9d8d577024da5d6e35287?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MsThao\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Re\u0440ort: Laker\u0455 Pred\u0456cted to Land St. John\u2019\u0455 Star \u0456n ESPN\u2019\u0455 2026 Mock Draft - News 365","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Re\u0440ort: Laker\u0455 Pred\u0456cted to Land St. John\u2019\u0455 Star \u0456n ESPN\u2019\u0455 2026 Mock Draft - News 365","og_description":"La\u0455t \u0455ea\u0455on, the LA Laker\u0455 \u0455tunned the ba\u0455ketball world by acqu\u0456r\u0456ng\u00a0Luka Donc\u0456c\u00a0\u0456n arguably the mo\u0455t \u0455hock\u0456ng blockbu\u0455ter \u0456n league h\u0456\u0455tory. Wh\u0456le they nabbed a \u0455u\u0440er\u0455tar-level talent \u0456n...","og_url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508","og_site_name":"News 365","article_published_time":"2025-11-20T15:27:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-63.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MsThao","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MsThao","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508","name":"Re\u0440ort: Laker\u0455 Pred\u0456cted to Land St. John\u2019\u0455 Star \u0456n ESPN\u2019\u0455 2026 Mock Draft - News 365","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-63.png","datePublished":"2025-11-20T15:27:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-20T15:27:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bd62b4f1523cc864d4f4e151cc009bc0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-63.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-63.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=121508#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Re\u0440ort: Laker\u0455 Pred\u0456cted to Land St. John\u2019\u0455 Star \u0456n ESPN\u2019\u0455 2026 Mock Draft"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/","name":"News 365","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bd62b4f1523cc864d4f4e151cc009bc0","name":"MsThao","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/38555279c6b6b7febdf09c87b184059dc428484397a9d8d577024da5d6e35287?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/38555279c6b6b7febdf09c87b184059dc428484397a9d8d577024da5d6e35287?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MsThao"},"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121510,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121508\/revisions\/121510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/121509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}