The Los Angeles Lakers are about to begin what could turn out to be a very important offseason. They’re projected to have tens of millions of dollars of salary cap space, as well as two future first-round draft picks to offer in a trade, and those resources could allow them to start to truly build a championship-caliber team around Luka Doncic.
Los Angeles will also have the No. 25 pick in this year’s draft. They have been starting to work out prospects in this year’s draft class, including Baba Miller, a 6-foot-11 forward who played at the University of Cincinnati this past season.
Miller is originally from Spain, where he was a member of Real Madrid. He played four years of college basketball in the United States, and while he was somewhat slow to develop, he averaged 13 points and a Big 12-high 10.3 rebounds during the 2025-26 season.
He isn’t much of an outside shooter (he shot 19.2% from 3-point range this past season, although he was at 34.2% the previous season), but he can handle the ball to a certain extent, make good connective passes and has solid fluidity to his overall game.
Miller has some real potential defensively, especially when it comes to guarding players at multiple positions. But right now, his pick-and-roll defense is an issue, and at 225 pounds, he could have problems guarding the NBA’s biggest, bulkiest and most skilled big men. He may lack truly high-level athleticism, but he is athletic enough to throw down the occasional strong and explosive dunk.
The 22-year-old is projected to be taken in the second round of this year’s NBA draft.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: 2026 Lakers draft prospects: Baba Miller
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
