SLAMonline Mock Draft: Jeff Pendergraph, No. 29

by Nima Zarrabi With the 29th pick in the 2009 SLAMonline Mock Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select… Jeff Pendergraph. We are extremely pleased to welcome Jeff to the Laker family. He is a physical and athletic big man that will add depth to our frontcourt. We had a chance to watch Jeff play several times this year, including during the Pac-10 tournament which is held at our arena, Staples Center. He is a good rebounder and defender and showed improvement on the offensive end each year while at Arizona State. Furthermore, we were very impressed with the fact that he understood his role for his team and never wavered from it. In watching him play this season, I believed he deserved more opportunities offensively but ASU’s offense went through James Harden. He still managed to average over 16 ppg and nearly 9 rebounds. Another key for us was the fact that Jeff is a high character individual. Our team has incredible chemistry right now. We have a group of guys that truly enjoys being ...