Lakers interview Melo Trimble at pre-draft combine

The Los Angeles Lakers have seemingly interviewed just about every teenager who has ever played basketball draft-eligible player at this point, even if that's not exactly true. Mitch Kupchak and the front office added one more name to their NBA pre-draft combine dance card, as the team interviewed sophomore point guard Melo Trimble over the weekend, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.

The team has said they are preparing for the draft as if they won't have a first-round pick, and getting familiar with Trimble certainly fits that line of thinking. Draft Express ranks the Maryland sophomore as the 76th best player in the draft, so he could be a candidate for the Lakers' summer league team and a possible training camp invite.

That may not be good enough for Trimble, however, as he told Zagoria that if his stock isn't quite where he hopes it will be, he could still withdraw from the draft:

Ideally [Trimble] would get a guarantee that someone will take him in the first round, although that seems unlikely at this point. He has until May 25 to withdraw from the Draft and return to campus.

"Just somewhere in the first round," he said of his goal. "I would be happy to be early second. You look at players in the league like Isaiah Thomas and Draymond Green, they were in the second round. Isaiah was the last pick and you see what hard work gets you. And the other things don't matter, it's just how hard you keep working."

After his last workout, he plans to make a decision about his future right up against the May 25 deadline.

Even if Trimble goes back to school, the Lakers gaining some experience with him would still have value when and if he re-enters the draft next year. Any information the team can gain about players is a good thing as they look to find talent on the fringes while they continue their extensive rebuild, and their pre-draft process of canvassing the entire field seems sound so far.

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