Karl-Anthony Towns is the clear No. 1 pick in this year's NBA Draft and it would be a major surprise to see Minnesota pass on him. The Lakers, picking No. 2 overall, could send the entire draft into chaos by taking anyone but Jahlil Okafor.
While most mock drafts have D'Angelo Russell going No. 3 to Philadelphia, he is certainly an option for Los Angeles. Russell could also slip to No. 4 thanks to the hype surrounding Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis.
Although he is the consensus top point guard, the Knicks could value fellow point guard Emmanuel Mudiay over Russell – I mean, these are the Knicks, after all. That would send Russell into free fall. He, most likely, won't slip past New York.
We don't know where Russell will end up but we do know many consider him the top backcourt option in the draft. Surrounded by better talent relative to what he had at Ohio State, Russell could truly reach his all-star potential.
"They got drilled in the second round [of the NCAA tournament] by Arizona. Rondae [Hollis-Jefferson] and Stanley [Johnson] … they just climbed into his ass," an anonymous scout told Grantland's Ryen Russillo. "OK, you can load up on him. Who are you going to throw it to? Shannon Scott, Sam Thompson, or Amir Williams? Now put him on the floor with NBA players. Try and load on him now."
Currently, none of the following teams are equipped to win many games next season. Long term, though, Russell could lead each one to winning seasons.
Los Angeles Lakers
Point guard Jordan Clarkson showed great promise over the final three months of the regular season, but I'm not sure anyone in the organization thinks he'll be a better option than Russell going forward.
The real dilemma: is Russell worth passing on Okafor? In the modern NBA, he might be.
Most teams – not necessarily the Lakers – realize isolation plays and post-ups are the least efficient shots available. The league average points per possession on post-up plays was .85 this past season (data via CanisHoopus.com). Comparatively, pick and rolls account for .98 points per possession. Charlotte's Al Jefferson led the league in post-ups and scored less than half the time in those situations.
Essentially, as good as Okafor is in the post, he will make your offense less efficient due to the style of his game. He's not particularly versatile and that's not even referring to his poor defense – not that Russell is much better on that end.
Russell just fits most offenses around the league better than Okafor would. To be fair, though, I wouldn't consider Lakers head coach Byron Scott one of those coaches who run a "modern" offense.
If selected by Los Angeles, Russell would start alongside Kobe Bryant. Though ball dominant in a vanilla offense, Bryant would probably appreciate someone like Russell taking some pressure off him. Playing for the Lakers would also give Russell the opportunity to work with Julius Randle, who missed all of last season with a broken leg.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
One of the more bizarre storylines stemming from the pre-draft process surrounds Russell's interest in Philadelphia.
He missed his first workout with the Sixers, allegedly due to a brief illness. Some took that as a sign that he intentionally skipped the workout, which doesn't seem to be in Russell's nature. A Los Angeles Times report referenced his desire to be selected by the Sixers, saying he "doesn't want to play for the unpredictable 76ers."
He eventually rescheduled that workout and a Philadelphia Inquirer report refuted the Los Angeles Times piece.
"He really loves Philly," a source told the Inquirer. ""He said he killed it [at the workout]. He was talking about how excited he was about Philly."
If Philadelphia selects Russell, it would fill a huge need. After trading 2013-14 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams to the Bucks, the Sixers' best options at point were Ish Smith, Tony Wroten and Isaiah Canaan.
The 76ers were, by far, the least efficient offensive team in the league during the 2014-15 season. Someone of Russell's talent, from his pure scoring ability to his vision in a potential pick and roll combo with Nerlens Noel, would immediately lift Philly out of the NBA's basement. Plus, his No. 0 would look pretty good in their new threads.
New York KNicks
From top to bottom, the Knicks organization is a complete mess.
They have one of the most incompetent owners in all of professional sports in James Dolan. He rehired Isiah Thomas, who cost the Madison Square Garden Company nearly $12 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit and is part of the reason why the team itself is in poor shape. It's not necessarily the best environment to develop young players.
Dolan also hired legendary coach Phil Jackson to rebuild the roster, although he now seems out of touch with how successful teams operate. Head coach Derek Fisher crafted the league's second-least efficient offense, a team with an incredibly poor shot selection.
From the outside, it appears they wouldn't use Russell to his fullest abilities. He feels differently.
"Now that I look at it, Kobe had great success in it. The shots that he took, the shots that he made were in the same areas, all from the offense," he told ESPN.com. "So I think I can definitely thrive there."
The Knicks definitely need a point guard, as they relied heavily on Jose Calderon and Shane Larkin last season. To be fair, New York does have the most talented player to pair with Russell – Carmelo Anthony. How they fill out the rest of the roster, especially without a first round pick in 2016, is a mystery. They might have to rely heavily on free agent pickups a year from now.
Regardless, the media pressure on Russell would be intense, especially considering the fan base would be ecstatic if he fell to No. 4.
