The Lakers shook up the top of the NBA Draft on Thursday taking point guard D’Angelo Russell with the second overall pick. Most thought Duke big man Jahlil Okafor would be the guy at that spot, but SMU coach Larry Brown said he talked directly to Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak about drafting Emmanuel Mudiay.
“I was trying,” Brown said on ESPN’s Mike and Mike on Friday. “I begged Mitch.”
Brown was slated to coach Mudiay at SMU before he passed up on the college experience to play one year of professional hoops in China. And despite being spurned by the top-flight point guard, Brown still sings Mudiay’s praises.
“Emmanuel's 6-5, he's long, he's athletic,” Brown said during a radio interview before the draft. “I think he can keep the ball in front of him. He's a pass-first point guard. He's an extra rebounder. He's not a great shooter, but, in the NBA, you have so much time to work on your shot and improve your game, his shot's not broken. I think it'll get there. I think he has it all."
And if the Lakers really wanted a star point guard, Brown thinks Mudiay was a clear choice before Russell.
“I don’t think Russell is a point guard, I think he’s a playmaker,” Brown said on ESPN. “I cannot fault (Jahlil) Okafor or (Karl-Anthony) Towns, they’re great kids and really talented, and I’m not opposed to Russell. But I have a relationship with Emmanuel.
“He reminds me a lot of John Wall, but a lot more advanced as a point guard than John Wall coming out of college.”
Brown said Mudiay can become a better shooter, saying “everybody is hung up with his shooting stuff.” But the history of the 2015 NBA Draft is written, and Mudiay will have a chance to wow basketball fans as a member of the Nuggets, who selected him with the seventh pick.