The Los Angeles Lakers are just a few weeks away from deciding what they are going to do with their second overall draft pick, and they apparently aren’t set on any prospect just yet.
Widely-regarded as the second best prospect in the draft, as well as a hometown kid, Lonzo Ball was in the Lakers facility for a workout on Wednesday. This was a private workout, no media members were allowed in the gym until the session was over, though Ball did answer questions afterward. But according to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding, the workout and meeting did not “seal any deal” for the team.
There has been speculation for quite some time that the Lakers are intrigued by other prospects and Ding addressed where they are now.
The Lakers remain intrigued by Markelle Fultz and Josh Jackson, and to a lesser extent De’Aaron Fox, along with Ball for their No. 2 overall pick.
On Thursday, Magic Johnson, Luke Walton, and Rob Pelinka traveled to Sacramento to a private workout that Jackson, the Kansas product, was holding. In his piece, Ding also notes that the Lakers are still hopeful for a workout with top prospect, Markelle Fultz, even though he’s projected to be off the board by the time they select. As for De’Aaron Fox, the team is holding a workout with him on Tuesday and while he could be an option at 2, they seemingly have him below the other three.
The positive for Ball out of this is that his game is predicated on his playmaking ability and feel for the game. Ding adds this should be taken into consideration when the team looks at his workout.
Ball didn’t separate himself clearly from the pack. The thing is, he never was going to do that in a one-on-none workout format that gave him no one to find with a dynamic hit-ahead pass in transition or a perfectly timed bounce pass for a basket cutter.
With more prospects set to come to the Lakers facility in the coming weeks, we might not get a clear indication on who they plan to select until the draft is much closer. Though this all could just be a clever smokescreen to see if any team is interested in trading for the pick. If they were to make it clear that Ball is their guy, they wouldn’t have any leverage in that situation. The Lakers are in a coveted position to add another talented prospect come June 22nd, and we might have to wait until then to see what their plan is.
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