Lakers Deal Two Second Rounders to San Antonio for Draft Rights to Cory Hightower
On June 28th, 2000, the San Antonio Spurs traded the draft rights of Cory Hightower to the Los Angeles Lakers for a 2001 second round pick (Robertas Javtokas) and a 2002 second round pick (Randy Holcomb).
Fresh off of a 2000 NBA championship win, the Los Angeles Lakers went back to the drawing board to re-stock their supporting cast around stars Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. The team owned its first round pick in the 2000 NBA Draft, but had lost its second rounder in a trade involving A.C. Green and Sean Rooks with the Dallas Mavericks the previous year.
After selecting power forward Mark Madsen from Stanford with the final pick in the first round of the 2000 draft, the Lakers were able to get into the second round, by trading their 2001 and 2002 future second rounders to the San Antonio Spurs for San Antonio’s 54th pick in the 2000 draft.
The Spurs selected guard-forward Cory Hightower with the pick and subsequently sent him to the Lakers in the draft night deal. From Flint, Michigan, Hightower had excelled at Indian Hills Community College, where he put up 22.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 4.6 APG as a sophomore. A solid offensive player and quality shooter, Hightower entertained transferring to Texas Christian University before declaring for the 2000 NBA Draft.
After acquiring Hightower, the Lakers signed the swingman to a two-year contract with the second year being a team option. Hightower participated in summer league with the Lakers and entered training camp with the defending champions soon after. After averaging 2.8 PPG in five preseason games, the Lakers waived Hightower. The team decided to keep point guard Mike Penberthy as their final guard on the roster.
The 2001 second rounder ended up in the 56th spot of the draft and was used on Lithuanian big man Robertas Javtokas. Javtokas had played in America, attending high schools in North Carolina and Ohio before playing at the University of Arizona for one season.
Javtokas never signed a contract and never played in the NBA. He enjoyed a professional basketball career overseas that saw him play in Lithuania, Russia, Greece and Spain before retiring in 2017.
The Spurs used their 2002 second rounder — 56th overall — on Randy Holcomb. On the same night, the Spurs dealt Holcomb’s draft rights along with veteran Mark Bryant and the draft rights of John Salmons to the Philadelphia 76ers for guard Craig “Speedy” Claxton.
Cory Hightower on learning the triangle as a rookie in summer league (via LA Times):
“It’s going to be hard to learn. There’s a lot of cuts [in the triangle offense] and reads. You’re going to have to be a real student of the game.”
Los Angeles Lakers executive vice president Jerry West on Cory Hightower (via LA Times):
“He can score and he can shoot the ball. Someone that [head coach] Phil [Jackson] had a great interest in.”
On Hightower’s offensive ability (via LA Times):
“Cory, he’s really a skilled player. He’s clever and a shot maker but he’s not selfish. We think that we got two players who will have careers in the NBA.”
Image via Trading Card Database