Croatian-born Dragan Bender has made a headline as an international basketball sensation trailing behind LSU’s Ben Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram as one of the top NBA draft favorites. Having fallen out of LA Lakers’ initial interest, the next prospective destination is Boston Celtics with their overall No.3 pick.
Recent speculations point to a possible trade of Lakers’ D'Angelo Russell for Jazz's Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors. While Lakers feel quite secured with their second top pick with the prospective drafting of either Brandon Ingram or Ben Simmons, the team needs Hayward and Favors to strengthen their shoddy defense.
San Antonio Spurs’ aging roster is in need of young talents with rumors suggesting a possible acquisition of either Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel via trade agreement with Philadelphia 76ers. Meanwhile, Lakers could possibly enter into trade talks with the Sixers over Okafor after figuring out what to do with their overall second pick in the draft.
Philadelphia 76ers are likely to choose Australian-born LSU star player Ben Simmons over Duke’s Brandon Ingram after winning the first overall pick in the NBA draft lottery last Tuesday. After getting the top 2 overall pick, LA Lakers would likely get second pick favorite Ingram to their young roster under Luke Walton’s leadership.
If luck does his bidding, LSU star player Ben Simmons would want to play for the highly marketable west coast franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers, to sign in to a $10-million sponsorship (plus a number of perks) offer by German footwear giant Adidas. Simmons, represented by Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports Group, prefers Adidas’ juicier deal over Nike’s $7-million (with less incentives) offer.
