Perhaps never has a team with the No. 19 pick generated so much talk leading up to the NBA draft.

Of course these are the Lakers, who this week have managed to overshadow Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and pretty much anyone who wears sneakers.

If the Lakers don't make a trade, they will select 19th Thursday and, contrary to some conventional wisdom, most likely will not select a point guard. Perhaps in the second round, but maybe not even then.

It could all be moot if the Lakers give up the pick as part of a package to land Kevin Garnett, although as of Tuesday it seemed that Phoenix had emerged as a better trade partner for Minnesota.

The Lakers reportedly talked to the Timberwolves about a deal that would send Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, another player - perhaps Kwame Brown - and possibly the Lakers' first-round pick for Garnett.

If the Lakers end up keeping the pick, their roster, as currently constructed, has some holes.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has gone through draft preparations assuming that the roster - including Kobe Bryant - won't significantly change, although he is exploring many trade options.

But since Kupchak can't assume that a deal will get done, he must work with the roster as presently constructed, which would seem to most glaringly lack a point guard and at least one big man.
The Lakers will part ways with point guard Smush Parker this summer, and Luke Walton is a free agent, as is the oft-injured Chris Mihm, who may or may not return and may or may not be 100 percent.

Kupchak said the Lakers wouldn't necessarily target a position with their first-round pick. The Lakers also have twoselections in the second round, the No. 40 and No. 48 picks overall.

"It's a question that's always asked. Do you draft for need or take the best player available?" Kupchak said. "It depends. It's always hard to pass on the best talent.

"Like last year, Marcus Williams (picked No. 22 overall by New Jersey) was supposed to go high and then all of a sudden he started to drop. It gets to a point where if a guy starts to drop, and you feel he's at a certain talent level, whether you need him or not, you take him. Those are subjective decisions we make, but you typically take the best player."

Among frontcourt players, the two most likely to be available in the Lakers' area are Colorado State center Jason Smith and Georgia Tech forward Thaddeus Young, both of whom left school early.

Smith averaged 16.8 points and 10.1rebounds in his junior season. He's a 7-footer who has good mobility but needs more strength. Young spent just oneseason at Georgia Tech and averaged 14.4 points and 4.9rebounds. At 6-8, Young is considered versatile but also in need of additional strength.

Many pundits and mock drafts have the Lakers penciled in to draft a point guard, but on the heels of last year's selection of Jordan Farmar, the Lakers are more likely to pursue one in free agency.

"In terms of a ballhandling guard," Kupchak said, "unless it was a ballhandling guard who was ahead of the curve, we don't need (to draft) another young ballhandling guard."