The Los Angeles Lakers recently earned the No. 2 pick for the third consecutive year, as with the stakes at an all-time high their ping-pong balls came up second behind the Boston Celtics in the NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday night.
In what it believed to be the deepest draft in quite some time, the Lakers will have plenty of solid options to choose from with the second pick.
The most obvious choice would be UCLA point guard and Los Angeles native Lonzo Ball, who has expressed interest in playing for the Lakers, even so far as his dad, LaVar, recently said that Lonzo would only workout for the Lakers before the draft.
But Ball is not the only player that the Lakers will workout, as players like Josh Jackson and De’Aaron Fox are also admired within the organization, via Ramona Shelburne of ESPN:
LaVar predictions aside, Lakers have an interesting choice at 2. There are definitely people in the org who admire Josh Jackson & Fox too
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 17, 2017
Jackson, who played one year at Kansas and has a similar build to the Lakers first-round draft pick last year, Brandon Ingram, averaged 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from three-point range in 35 games. He would provide assistance on both the defensive and offensive end of the floor for Los Angeles.
Fox averaged 16.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.6 assists while shooting 47.8 percent from the field in 36 games at Kentucky. His speed is his best attribute, and he has proven that he can play on the biggest stages as he scored 39 points in the NCAA Tournament against Ball and UCLA.
Markelle Fultz, a point guard out of Washington, is another player the Lakers will likely workout, although he is considered the favorite to end up with the Boston Celtics at No.1.