Doug McDermott, from Creighton, stretches before participating in the 2014 NBA basketball draft combine Friday, May 16, 2014, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
In what will mark a significant step in evaluating prospects, the Lakers will hold pre-draft workouts at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo on Wednesday.
The Lakers will have two separate workouts both in the morning and afternoon. The first group working out in the morning will include Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis, Pepperdine’s Brendan Lane, Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart, Michigan’s Nik Stauskas, Indiana’s Noah Vonleh and Kentucky’s James Young. The second group working out in the morning will include Arizona’s Aaron Gordon, Michigan State’s Gary Harris, Duke’s Rodney Hood, UCLA’s Zach LaVine, Creighton’s Doug McDermott and Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elfrid Payton.
The most intriguing prospects will include Gordon, Vonleh and Smart. Both Gordon and Vonleh are considered strong defenders at the power forward spot, something the Lakers lacked consistently last season. Smart is considered a bruising point guard and he said the Lakers were “very interested” when the Lakers interviewed him two weeks ago at the pre-draft combine in Chicago.
One notable absence includes Kentucky forward Julius Randle, who has said he would love to play with the Lakers and grew up admiring Kobe Bryant. But the Lakers will likely have more workouts before the NBA draft on June 26 when they will have the seventh pick.
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