The Los Angeles Lakers hosted their second batch of pre-draft workouts this afternoon at Toyota Sports Center. According to Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, both Nik Stauskas and Rodney Hood who were scheduled to attend today’s workout had a last-minute cancellation. The second group of workouts included: Aaron Gordon, Doug McDermott, James Young, Elfrid Payton and two adds of Davion Berry and Jerry Evans. McDermott and Gordon were matched up against each other for the majority of the workout and both conducted interviews with visible scratches on their arms, each giving props to the talent and competitiveness of one another. Below are quotes from each of their interviews.
Aaron Gordon on coming to the Lakers facility for the first time: “The trophies back there, man. I went up and asked somebody are those real? They’re like ‘Yeah, everything’s real around here.'”
Aaron Gordon on what he has to prove: “I think I just have to show people that I’m not losing what got me here, which is my athleticism, my motor, my intangibles, everything else is just icing on the cake.”
Doug McDermott on what he’s been working on to improve his game: “Ball handling mainly and lateral quickness. I feel like my jumpers always going to be there. I just got to work on the in-between stuff.”
Doug McDermott on being matched up with Gordon: “It was a good matchup. He’s a great player, a phenomenal athlete, so it was a tough matchup for me, but I think he’s going to be a heck of a pro.”
James Young on the first thing he’d say to Kobe Bryant if he was a Laker: “Show me the ways!”
Davion Berry: “This is my second workout. I worked out with the Bulls yesterday in Chicago so after Chicago I came here and now I’m going to the Jazz and on Monday I got the Warriors so this is a long process for me.”
Jerry Evans: “I’m not one dimensional. I feel like I can guard positions one through three, and I feel like that’s rare in my situation. And, being able to stretch the floor, being able to knock down corner shots, I feel like that’s a plus at this level.”
For the first session of Lakers pre-draft workouts (Marcus Smart, Tyler Ennis, Zach LaVine, Noah Vonleh, Gary Harris and Brendan Lane) click here!
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VIDEO: Doug McDermott – Lakers Pre-Draft Workouts