This smells of the kind of thing: 1) a team puts out as misdirection; 2) an agent leaks to drive up stock in his client.
But it comes from a very credible reporter, and it’s certainly not impossible, so here you go:
The Lakers already have D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson at the guard spots, so on one level this doesn’t make sense. However, when a team is where the Lakers are right now in rebuilding, they need to take the best available player regardless of position. Better to have too many good point guards — a valued position around the league — and potentially trade one down the line than to take an inferior player due to fit. To use the most famous draft example, don’t pass on Michael Jordan because you already have Clyde Drexler.
Dunn, out of Providence, is the highest rated point guard in the draft and likely gets taken between third and sixth, depending on what the final draft order is (this is written before the draft lottery). There are a clear top two in this draft, Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram, but after that different teams like different players.
Here is what PBT’s NBA Draft expert — and Rotoworld writer — Ed Isaacson said about Dunn.
He is a very good ballhandler with excellent vision, and he can be a spectacular passer, but his decisions can still be mindboggling. He thrives when Providence pushes the tempo, doing a great job getting the ball up the floor quickly and finding open teammates for easy scores. He did show improvement in the half court, and he can be very tough to keep out of the lane. Getting to the rim and scoring is a different issue; Dunn can have a lot of problems finishing around length at the basket, but if he has just a little space, he can finish in a spectacular way. Dunn’s perimeter shooting issues are still there, even though looking at his shot, there don’t seem to be any major fixes needed.
