The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night drafted Moritz Wagner with the 25th draft pick, Isaac Bonga with 39th (from Philadelphia) and Sviatolav Mykhailiuk with the 47th.
Wagner is a 6’11” forward from University of Michigan who brings a great skill set to the Lakers. He’s a knockdown shooter who shot 39.4% from 3-point range last season. He fits in well with what the Lakers are trying to accomplish on offense, which is spreading the floor and shoot a high percentage.
Isaac Bonga is a young player (18) from Germany who’s been playing for the Skyliners Frankfurt since 2016. He’s a 6’8″ shooting guard that is going to need time to develop at the pro level. Bonga is a ball handler so it will be interesting to see how his game compliments Lakers current point guard Lonzo Ball. While playing in Germany, Bonga had a high rate of 42% field goal percentage and has the ability to attack the rim because of his length as a guard.
Svi Mykhailiuk is a big guard from Kansas who stands at 6’8″. Mykhailiuk is a pure shooter who averaged 14.6 points last season in college while knocking down 44.4% from 3-point range. He is another guy that can also spread the floor and hit spots anywhere on the court. It will be interesting how he does in this Laker offense coming out of the pick and roll. Mykhailiuk has potential of being in this league a long time if he can continue to knock down shots at a high percentage.
Weaknesses:
Wagner is a 21 years old and played multiple seasons of college ball. His concerns by scouts and NBA analysis was his defense. Wagner isn’t considered to be athletic and lacked foot work to be a good defensive player. Last season he averaged 7.1 rebounds per game and 0.6 blocks at Michigan.
After watching film of Svi Mykhailiuk, he has a hard time of finishing at the rim and has had times of being sloppy with the basketball. Mykhailiuk is going to need to develop his game more and take care of the ball better. Practicing against pro players and learning from the veterans will certainly give him the experience needed to strengthen his skills.
With Isaac Bonga being a young player he needs to continue developing his game overall. Getting into the gym and getting the reps against NBA talent will help him grow as a player. Hopefully Summer League helps him. He needs to develop his jump shot more, as only 27% of his possessions came from that particular area.
As a Laker fan I’m eager to see these three guys partake in Summer League and develop with Los Angeles young core of players. It’s certainly an exciting time for the purple and gold.
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