This week, ESPN's Jeremy Woo put out his first mock for the 2026 draft. As it pertains to the Lakers, they are predicted to pick in the mid-twenties and walk away with St. John's standout Zuby Ejiofor.

Tip-off between the Jazz and Lakers lands at 8:30 p.m. MT in Crypto.com Arena, where Utah will have a chance to rattle off a second-straight win in the process of spoiling the season debut of LeBron James, who's officially been upgraded to active for his first game of the season.

The Utah Jazz couldn’t get it done against the Los Angeles Lakers, losing 140–125 in a game that had zero defense on either side and eventually turned into a long, slow unraveling for Utah. What made it frustrating was that the Jazz actually looked sharp early.