{"id":129190,"date":"2025-03-17T16:06:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T20:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=129190"},"modified":"2025-03-17T16:06:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T20:06:16","slug":"lakers-draft-prospects-to-watch-in-march-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/17\/lakers-draft-prospects-to-watch-in-march-madness\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Draft Prospects to Watch in March Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even with the Lakers in the thick of the playoff race, it\u2019s never too early to start thinking about the <\/span>2025 NBA Draft<\/span><\/a>, especially with <\/span>March Madness<\/span><\/a> finally here. Some of the latest mock drafts have the purple and gold filling at least one of two positional needs come June. With LA currently holding a late second-round pick (projected around 55th overall), a couple of draftees going dancing may turn Laker Nation\u2019s heads.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Draft Prospects to Watch in March Madness<\/b><\/h2>\n

Viktor Lakhin, C, Clemson (Sr.)<\/b><\/h3>\n

2024-25 Stats: <\/b>11.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.5 BPG; 50.7% FG, 37.5% 3PT, 69.7% FT<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

By now, it\u2019s absolutely no secret the Lakers need a center, and <\/span>No Ceilings NBA<\/span><\/a> believes Clemson big man <\/span>Viktor Lakhin<\/span><\/a> could be a viable target. The 6\u201911\u201d, 228-pound senior recently transferred to Clemson after three years at Cincinnati. He possesses an <\/span>NBA-ready frame<\/span><\/a> with a game that fits the league\u2019s modern playing style. One area to watch this March is Lakhin\u2019s shooting; his 37% mark from the perimeter came on a career-high 64 attempts\u2014a minor but notable boost from the 54 threes he took last year. Lakhin has also thrived against elite competition, <\/span>recording 22 points<\/span><\/a> (20 in the first half), six rebounds and five blocks against UNC.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the purple and gold requiring reinforcements in the middle this summer, Lakhin should make their list of targets for his talents on both sides of the ball. However, one detractor that could scare the Lakers (among other teams) away is his <\/span>age<\/span><\/a>\u2014he will be 24 years old at the end of July.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bennett Stirtz, PG\/SG, Drake (Jr.)<\/b><\/h3>\n

2024-25 Stats:<\/b> 19.1 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.7 APG; 49.3% FG, 38.7% 3PT, 79.5% FT<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The latest <\/span>ESPN+ mock draft<\/span><\/a> (subscription required) has the Lakers drafting guard <\/span>Bennett Stirtz<\/span><\/a> out of no. 11 Drake University. A recent transfer from Div. II Northwest Missouri State, Stirtz is coming off of a fiery debut campaign for the Bulldogs. The Div. I transfer averaged 19.1 points and 5.7 assists while shooting 49% from the field and 38% from three. He has already flashed <\/span>an ability to create his own shot off the dribble<\/span><\/a> and hit threes at a high, respectable clip (made 59 of 153 triples this year).<\/span><\/p>\n

With the Lakers needing an abundance of shooters surrounding <\/span>Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a>, Stirtz could fit that mold as someone who <\/span>scores in a variety of ways<\/span><\/a> and does well in transition play. He also hangs his hat on defense, averaging a career-best 2.2 steals per game with a steal percentage of 3.6%.<\/span><\/p>\n

Honorable Mentions: Not Dancing, But Keep Eyes on Them Anyway<\/b><\/h3>\n

While Lakhin and Stirtz are part of two tournament-bound teams, there are a couple other prospects worth mentioning whose teams did not make the cut this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman<\/span><\/a> has the Lakers drafting Villanova forward Eric Dixon<\/a>, a 6\u20198\u201d, 265-pound bruiser coming off of a monster campaign for the Wildcats. The fifth-year averaged 23 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 45% from the field and 42% from three. Wasserman says teams will see Dixon as a \u201cpick-and-pop big,\u201d adding that he evolved from a post player to a perimeter scorer, \u201clighting up defenses with his range, step-back jump shot and ball-handling to attack closeouts and drive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, <\/span>Sports Illustrated<\/span><\/a> mocked the Lakers to select Princeton guard <\/span>Xavian Lee<\/span><\/a>. The 6\u20193\u201d junior guard averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game on .439\/.366\/.789 splits. Lee has been described as <\/span>an \u201coffensive engine\u201d<\/span><\/a> who can control the game well, set up teammates, and score from deep\u2014all traits the Lakers will look for in young talent. He\u2019s also proven to be a disruptor on defense, but the biggest question is if he can \u201c<\/span>hold his own against bigger and stronger athletes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2025 NBA Draft runs from June 25-26, with both rounds starting at 8 p.m. ET.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even with the Lakers in the thick of the playoff race, it\u2019s never too early to start thinking about the 2025 NBA Draft, especially with March Madness finally here. Some of the latest mock drafts have the purple and gold filling at least one of two positional needs come June. With LA currently holding a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":129199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,556],"tags":[50008,1457,3933,38,1133,826],"class_list":["post-129190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-2025-ncaa-tournament","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-drake-bulldogs","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-march-madness"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129190"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129204,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129190\/revisions\/129204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}