Why don't the Lakers have a 2022 NBA draft pick? How Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook trades impact future

Loaded with veteran talent, the Los Angeles Lakers were the oldest team in the NBA last season with elder statesmen like Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard on their roster.

The Lakers, however, won't be getting an infusion of young talent via the NBA Draft this year because... well, they don't have picks.

Thanks to the Anthony Davis trade in 2019 and another cap-saving deal that same summer, the Lakers do not have a first-round or a second-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

This will be the second straight year that the Lakers don't have a first-round pick in the draft. Last year, their first-round pick was part of the Russell Westbrook trade. 

What was the Anthony Davis trade?

In November 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans made a blockbuster deal centered around Davis.

Lakers received: Anthony Davis

Pelicans received: Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, three first-round picks

• 2019 No. 4 pick
• 2021 first-round pick protected for Nos. 9-30 (unprotected in 2022)
• 2023 first-round swap rights unprotected
• 2024 first-round pick unprotected (option to defer to 2025)

To free up cap space for Davis, the Lakers also made a smaller deal with the Washington Wizards involving Isaac Bonga, Mortiz Wagner, Jemerrio Jones and the 2022 second round draft pick. 

What was the Russell Westbrook trade?

In August 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Russell Westbrook via a massive five-team deal involving the Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers.

Lakers received: Russell Westbrook, Bulls 2023 second-round pick (via Wizards), Least favorable of Wizards/Grizzlies 2024 second-round pick (via Wizards), Wizards 2028 second-round pick

Wizards received: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (via Lakers), Montrezl Harrell (via Lakers), Kyle Kuzma (via Lakers), Spencer Dinwiddie (via Nets), Aaron Holiday (via Pacers), draft rights to 2021 No. 31 overall pick Isaiah Todd, cash considerations (via Pacers)

Nets received: Most favorable of Grizzlies/Wizards 2024 second-round pick, Warriors/Wizards 2024 second-round pick swap (via Wizards), $11.5 million trade exception, rights to 2015 first-round pick Nikola Milutinov (via SAS)

Spurs received: Chandler Hutchinson (via Wizards), most favorable of Bulls/Lakers/Pistons 2022 second-round pick (via Wizards)

Pacers received: Draft rights to 2021 No. 22 overall pick Isaiah Jackson (via Lakers)

Why don't the Lakers have any 2022 NBA Draft picks?

The Lakers do not have a pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

The Lakers gave up their 2022 first-round pick in the deal that brought Davis to Los Angeles. The Pelicans then included that pick in the Steven Adams-Jonas Valanciunas trade with a top-10 protection. That means if the Lakers' pick lands in the top-10, it'll go to the Pelicans. (The Grizzlies would instead get two second-round picks.) If it falls outside of the top-10, it'll go to the Grizzlies.

The Spurs own the Lakers' second-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Where will the Lakers' 2022 NBA Draft pick fall?

There is one particularly interesting team to watch in the lottery.

After finishing the season with a 33-49 record, putting them on the outside looking in on the Play-In Tournament, the Lakers have a 26.2 percent chance of landing a top-four pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The kicker is they won't actually make the selection.

The pick has changed hands multiple times at this point, but all you need to know is the Pelicans will be choosing in the Lakers' place. That's a big deal for New Orleans.

The Pelicans got off to a slow start this season, but they ended up defeating the Clippers in the second round of the Play-In Tournament to earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. While they lost to the Suns in six games in the opening round, they proved themselves to be a team on the rise, led by Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and (hopefully healthy) Zion Williamson.

The Pelicans will now get an opportunity to add another prospect to their core or package the pick to go after someone else. The most likely outcome is they pick at No. 8, but teams with much worse odds have won the lottery before.

2022 NBA Draft Lottery Odds