The Los Angeles Lakers managed to acquire yet another late first-round pick his summer thanks to their splash trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers at the 2018 NBA trade deadline. It appears they have wasted no time revealing their plans on what they intend to do with it.

Rumors surfaced that the Lakers promised to take former high school standout Mitchell Robinson with the 25th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. That notion has since been confirmed by Adam Zagoria of the New York Times:

The reports may seem a bit unorthodox considering it is still early in the offseason. However, there is good reason to believe that Los Angeles has expressed some serious interest.

It is no secret that the Lakers have been in need of some serious rim protection in recent years. Needless to say, this is an area where Robinson can oblige. He was ranked as the No.1 center in his class in high school and has already been touted as the best shot-blocker in his class. The seven-footer certainly possess all the traits of an elite rim protector with his 7'4″ wingspan and a 9'3″ standing reach. As a result, there are reports that he could go even higher in the draft.

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If that is true, the Lakers may be hoping that his lack of college experience will scare off the other teams ahead of them. This could be the case considering Los Angeles is the only team Robinson is scheduled to work out for thus far. Regardless of how things shake out, the front office should have plenty of confidence in their ability to dig up gems in the draft.