As the Golden State Warriors rip the Cleveland Cavaliers to shreds, the rest of the league is preparing for the busy months once this season comes to an end. The Lakers are looking forward to the NBA draft with workout after workout planned, except for one very notable potential draftee:
Per Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times, the Lakers have no workout scheduled with Ben Simmons, even as we sit a little more than two weeks out from the draft.
Now, this isn't all that newsworthy, as the Lakers are probably receiving information that the Philadelphia 76ers plan on selecting Ben Simmons first overall. The same thing happened last year, when Karl-Anthony Towns was the consensus top pick and didn't work out for Mitch Kupchak and company.
It remains to be seen whether Simmons is as far ahead of his peers as Towns was heading into the draft, but there isn't much to be gained by working out for teams from Simmons' standpoint. They already hold him in high regard and it would take another prospect absolutely blowing Philly away with a workout for them to even consider not selecting Simmons.
Bresnahan's tweet doesn't offer all that much in terms of context in the situation, either, but I can't would imagine the Lakers would pass on watching Simmons work out. This is obviously a case of Simmons' management steering him through the tricky waters leading up to the draft, and this is probably the right play from his standpoint.
Now, all of this could be moot if we find out in the next couple weeks that the Lakers would get a workout from Simmons, but I find that highly unlikely, given everything already covered above. With each passing bit of news, it seems all the more likely they land Brandon Ingram when this is all said and done.
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