On Wednesday the Lakers held their most anticipated pre-draft workout as they hosted UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball. Ever since the Lakers landed the second overall pick, it has seemed like a foregone conclusion that Ball would ultimately become a member of his hometown team.
Recent reports have called that into question, as De’Aaron Fox and Josh Jackson are also possibilities. Nonetheless, Ball remains the favorite to be the second pick.
After his workout with the team, Ball spoke about why he believes the Lakers should draft him and according to Lakers Nation’s own Ryan Ward, Ball’s answer was pretty straight forward:
Lonzo Ball on why the Lakers should draft: “They need a leader. They need a point guard.”
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) June 7, 2017
Ball certainly isn’t wrong about the Lakers needing a leader and he was pretty adamant that he could be that leader via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Lonzo Ball’s perspective on leadership: "I think a lot of it is just natural. I think you’re either born a leader or you’re not.”
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) June 7, 2017
Ball would also add that he believes he was born a leader.
The question now becomes whether Ball has done enough to ensure that the Lakers draft him come June 22. It has been reported that he needed to blow away the Lakers at his workout for them to draft him and since this was a private workout, no one knows how good things went except for those in attendance.
The Lakers and Ball have always seemed to be a perfect match and the opportunity is there for that to happen, but nothing is set in stone. The Lakers will get an up-close look at Jackson on Thursday and bring in Fox for a workout next week. Things should finally begin getting a little clearer once all of that is handled.