Warriors could use Lakers draft pick to prevent Andrej Stojakovic from returning to Illinois

Warriors could use Lakers draft pick to prevent Andrej Stojakovic from returning to Illinois originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Andrej Stojakovic is still looking at a key NBA Draft decision.

The Illinois wing could head back to college for another year after deciding not to transfer, but he also could stay in the draft and chase a spot at the next level. The son of long-time NBA sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic, Andrej might not be a first-round pick, but he'd definitely get drafted if he leaves school. In fact, he could be taken in a high-profile spot.

The latest mock draft from ESPN's Jeremy Woo , which came out Tuesday, projects Stojakovic to go with the 54th overall pick, a second-round selection to the Golden State Warriors (which previously belonged to the Los Angeles Lakers ). MORE: Joel Embiid reveals some TMI pooping details To be fair to Stojakovic, if he hears that his draft stock is as a late second-rounder, he very may well stay in school. But if he's ready for the next step of the journey, maybe he'd go for it.

And a spot with a Warriors team soon to be in transition would be fascinating. Stojakovic has played his first three college seasons at different schools. He began at Stanford, then went to Cal, and now played 2025-26 at Illinois.