With just over a day left before the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, the Lakers are being linked to the same kind of player over and over: athletic wings, lob threats and a center who can help at No. 25. That matters because the team has already said what it wants, and the mock drafts are starting to circle around it.
Rob Pelinka said at his exit interview that the Lakers needed lob threats and wings with athleticism. That is the lane most projections now occupy. The Lakers need athleticism and centers, and draft boards have started to match that need with players who can run the floor, finish plays and help in the front court without demanding the ball every possession.
Evans has become part of that conversation. He is 6'5" with a wingspan of nearly 6'9", and Jeremy Woo said his long-range shotmaking has kept first-round interest high. Woo also said Evans appears likely to come off the board in the 20s, measured 6-5½ barefoot at the combine, and has a pathway to becoming a valuable role player if he keeps fleshing out his game, especially on defense. He is more of a play finisher and spacer than a creator, Woo said, but his ability to hit shots off movement is the kind of skill NBA teams keep chasing.
Quaintance is drawing even more attention because his fit is easier to picture around Luka Doncic. The Ringer said he fits life with Doncic “to a T,” and could be an All-Defense-level prospect on one end while serving as the sort of powerhouse who can punctuate Luka pick-and-rolls 10 to 15 times a game on the other. Cameron Salerno went further, saying the Lakers’ biggest need should be finding a center and that if Quaintance is still on the board, that should be the pick. Salerno called him one of the most unique prospects in the class and one of the best defenders in the class when healthy.
The catch is the one that keeps his name from feeling inevitable. Quaintance played in just four games at Kentucky last season, and that short stretch has pushed his stock down even as teams keep studying the upside. The Ringer said the health question is what it all comes down to, and Salerno pointed to the same issue by noting how much the injury recovery has changed the way the class views him. That leaves the Lakers weighing a player who might solve a real need against the risk that his body is still the biggest part of the evaluation.
That is why this draft feels more specific than most for the Lakers. They are trying to build around Luka Doncic while also accounting for the new contracts for LeBron James and Austin Reaves, which makes low-usage athletic pieces more valuable than a clean theory on paper. If the board breaks the right way, the pick at No. 25 could go to a wing, a lob threat or a center who fits the shape of the roster. If Quaintance is there, the question is not whether he is talented. It is whether the Lakers trust the health enough to take the risk when the first round finally begins.
