The Los Angeles Lakers are hard at work preparing for the upcoming NBA Draft, and as is usually the case this time of year, rumors are flying. Depending on who you ask, the Lakers could definitely be selecting UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, or they may be disappointed with the conditioning he showed during a recent workout with the team. They also might have promised to select Kansas’ Josh Jackson, or be extremely high on Kentucky guard De’Aaron Fox after watching Fox outplay Ball in college. They could even trade the pick.
The point is that, at this stage, nothing is set in stone as the team is still gathering info and conducting workouts. With that being the goal, it appears that the Lakers front office hosted UCLA’s Men’s Basketball coaching staff at their practice facility. Based on pictures posted by UCLA Assistant Coach David Grace to Twitter, the meeting included UCLA head coach Steve Alford, along with Assistants Tyus Edney, Duane Broussard, and Grace, while the Lakers had at least head coach Luke Walton, General Manager Rob Pelinka, and President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson in attendance:
It was great spending some time with The LA Lakers's Magic Johnson, GM Rob Pelinka and HC Luke Walton! pic.twitter.com/b46BjImGdN
— David Grace (@CoachDavidGrace) June 12, 2017
While Grace didn’t specifically mention what they discussed, one would have to imagine that Ball’s name came up a lot, which should shoot some major holes in the rumor that Los Angeles is set on drafting Jackson. Of course, the Lakers likely also asked for information about Ike Anigbogu, T.J. Leaf, and Bryce Alford while they were at, as each one has their name in the 2017 Draft, but none currently appear likely to be the 28th pick, which the Lakers own in addition to the second overall selection.
The bottom line is that, as the rumors fly, we won’t truly know who Los Angeles is going to select until NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announces it on June 22nd.