We're up in arms that Rudy and Donovan Mitchell were picked last, thinking it's a sign of disrespect. And while it's certainly not a sign of respect, the key to understand is that the ASG and (in particular) the ASG draft are about making connections to try to build superteams.

Zach LaVine will be a free agent after next season. That means that in this coming offseason, he's either signing a mega-extension or he's probably hitting the trade market. Same story with Julius Randle. Beal can do the same (slightly different since he has a player option, but Washington can't count on him exercising it).

Meanwhile Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert are locked up through 2026 (with player option, 2025 if they don't exercise it). By the time they get to the end of that contract (or even the offseason before) LeBron is going to be 40.

It doesn't matter if Zach LaVine is better or worse than Donovan Mitchell; LeBron cares more about selling LaVine on playing with LeBron.