The 2025 NBA Draft is nearing and while the Los Angeles Lakers don’t have a first-round pick, they do own a second-rounder at 55th overall. The odds of landing a contributor in that range aren’t great, but the Lakers have shown they can unearth some talent in the latter stages of the draft and will surely be looking to do so this year as well.
The front office is already hard at work bringing in a number of different prospects for pre-draft workouts and many of the most recent ones are big men. This isn’t surprising considering the Lakers’ need at center, but the team is doing their due diligence on a number of intriguing prospects.
Among the big men the Lakers have worked out recently are Spain’s Izan Almansa, Indiana’s Oumar Ballo, Appalachian State’s CJ Huntley and Alabama’s Clifford Omoruyi, while the team also brought in Spanish guard Isaac Nogues:
Source: Los Angeles Lakers will hold a pre-draft workout with Izan Almansa, sources told @ShotCoverage.
https://t.co/fwDpfo7NtB pic.twitter.com/a7kKGUebjF— Rob Murrows (@RobMurrows) June 1, 2025
Projected 2nd round pick Oumar Ballo is having a pre-draft workout with the Lakers per his personal IG pic.twitter.com/RZUOOCtDx2
— LakersMuse (@LALMuse) June 6, 2025
CJ Huntley completed his eighth pre-NBA Draft Workout today with the Los Angeles Lakers. #TakeTheStairs pic.twitter.com/nErkGRIrf9
— App State Basketball (@AppStateMBB) June 4, 2025
Isaac Nogues esta teniendo un entrenamiento privado con Los Angeles Lakers en estos momentos Isaac lo ha publicado en sus historias de Instagram,Los Lakers manejan el Pick 55 de este draft pic.twitter.com/N9ADoyXq1e
— NCAA PLAY&REWIND (@ncaaplayrewind) June 4, 2025
Alabama’s Clifford Omoruyi will work out for the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers this week, sources tell @TheDraftStack. The 6-foot-11 big man with a 7-foot-6 wingspan is drawing interest in the second-round due to his elite athleticism and rim protection. pic.twitter.com/S9DAEEdidB
— Ary (@Ary_Report) June 3, 2025
Almansa is the highest-rated of the prospects here and has spent some time in the G League and played in Australia last season. He is a high-energy big who has shown the potential to grow as a shooter and has great work ethic. Ballo has great size and strength and is a solid rebounder and rim protector, though he brings some offensive concerns with little ability to stretch the floor, not to mention his struggles guarding the perimeter.
Huntley is more of an offensive-focused big man who averaged nearly 16 points as a senior while knocking down 35.6% from 3-point range, but his lack of elite athleticism brings about concerns as a defender and rebounder. Omoruyi is the opposite with outstanding size and athleticism making him an excellent rim protector, but is still extremely raw offensively.
Lastly, Spanish guard Nogues is a truly unique prospect as a guard who is an absolute defensive force, but brings basically nothing on offense. He broke the G-League record with 10 steals in one game, but averaged just 2.5 points in more than 20 minutes per game.
Lakers work out former Kentucky guard Lamont Butler
Another prospect the Lakers recently brought in was Kentucky guard Lamont Butler, a 3-and-D wing who put up career-high numbers as a fifth-year senior at Kentucky after spending four seasons at San Diego State.
Butler shot 39.1% from 3-point range while averaging 11.4 points, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals in his final collegiate year and could be someone the Laker feel they can develop into a rotation player.
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