The Los Angeles Lakers are in win-now mode as long as LeBron James is on the roster. All indications would suggest that James is planning to return for at least another season, so the team will do what it can to go on a run.
The Lakers don’t own their first-round pick this year. They will have to wait until pick No. 55 in the second round to add a player. It’ll be difficult to find a win-now player in the draft, but the team could take a swing on an interesting sleeper.
Villanova power forward Eric Dixon is already 24, but he led the NCAA in scoring last season. Though his ceiling is low, he could carve out a role as a rookie if his shooting carries over to the NBA level. Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report projected the Lakers to take Dixon in the second round of his latest mock draft.
“There are a lot of questions about Eric Dixon’s fit at the next level, such as who does he defend and will he create separation offensively,” Wasserman wrote. “But late in the second round, teams will at least talk about the nation’s leading scorer who just hit 94 threes at 6’8”, 265 pounds.
“He may have become a sharp enough shotmaker for teams to see some type of stretch-4 and pick-and-pop role.”
Scouting Report on Dixon
Dixon was a solid starter for Villanova from 2021 to 2024, but really came into his own for the 2024-25 season. He averaged 23.3 points per game and hit 40.7% of his 3-point shots.
In Sports Illustrated’s scouting report on Dixon, they praised his ability, but are worried about his long-term upside due to his age.
“Dixon will be 24 years old on draft night, so relative to most of his peers in this class, he will be older,” Sports Illustrated wrote. “Even then, what he’s been able to showcase in this breakout fifth season has been nothing short of spectacular, and there’s no question his scoring can translate at the next level. That’s not to say he’ll ever score at this rate in the NBA, but the ways that he gets to his spots and the perimeter shooting accuracy at his size is well worth a draft selection despite his age.”
Dixon Is Worth Second-Round Pick
Being the NCAA scoring leader rarely leads to massive success at the NBA level. Five of the last six scoring leaders aren’t even on NBA rosters right now.
The last NCAA scoring leader to become an NBA All-Star was Trae Young, who led college basketball in scoring in 2017-18. For whatever reason, top scorers in college basketball don’t translate well to the NBA.
That said, the No. 55 pick isn’t much of a risk. If Dixon can at least be a solid shooter at the NBA level, it would be a steal for the Lakers. There are also some very good NBA players from Villanova right now. Even if Dixon flops and never plays in the NBA, the Lakers aren’t losing much. It’s very rare for late second-round picks to have long NBA careers, so why not take a shot on a player like Dixon?
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Lakers Predicted to Add Former NCAA Scoring Champion appeared first on Heavy Sports.