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Here is where the Lakers will pick in the 2023 NBA Draft

The league finalized the draft order for the 2023 NBA Draft on Monday and the Lakers now officially know where both their picks will land in June.

2021 NBA Draft Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

While the Lakers learned the fate of their first round draft pick when the Miami Heat made the play-in last week, the NBA finalized the draft order for the 2023 NBA Draft on Monday for the rest of the league.

The Lakers will have the No. 17 pick in the first round thanks to Patrick Beverley losing to the Heat in the play-in game to allow Miami the eighth seed in the playoffs. For the first time in quite a while — at least for now — the Lakers will have multiple picks in a draft as they’re locked in with the No. 47 pick in the second round as well.

The 17th pick, interestingly, is not a spot the Lakers have drafted at before. Dating back to 1948, they have not selected 17th overall, though in 1970 they did make a 17th-round selection and I can’t imagine much worse than a draft lasting nearly 20 rounds.

The one time they acquired a player drafted 17th came in 1992 when they traded for Doug Christie, drafted 17th overall by the Seattle Supersonics. That, though, comes with an asterisk as the Lakers traded for him in February of 1993, because Christie refused to sign with Seattle.

While Christie carved out a useful career, it wasn’t with the Lakers as he eventually was traded to the Knicks for a pair of second-round picks. Eventually, though, he helped the Lakers win a title by choking in Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals.

The 47th pick has also been a rare one for the Lakers. The team has selected 47th just five times with the most recent — and only since 1972 — coming in 2018 when they selected Svi Mykhailiuk.

The Lakers can not trade their first round draft pick before the draft, but they could deal it on draft night as they would technically be making the pick and trading the rights to the player, avoiding any issues with the Stepien Rule.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.

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