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The Los Angeles Lakers have started to work out players in anticipation of the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery next Tuesday. The players we know of so far (Tacko Fall and T.J. Williams) are hardly projected for selection in the range of the Lakers top-three protected first-round pick, but apparently the team has begun to canvas options there as well.
Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday that an associate of widely-projected first-overall pick Markelle Fultz told him Fultz had met with all eight teams with the best odds to get the top overall selection in the draft, a list that includes the Lakers as well as the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings.
However, Pompey added that the Magic had not met with Fultz, while Darren Wolfson of ESPN said Fultz also had not met with the Timberwolves.
Fultz, who averaged 23.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists in his lone season at Washington, is among the four players (along with Lonzo Ball, Josh Jackson, and De’Aaron Fox) the Lakers are reportedly considering if they keep their first-round pick in the upcoming draft, so it makes sense the team would want to meet with him and/or his representatives.
How much that meeting mattered will in large part be determined next Tuesday, when the Lakers will discover whether or not they have a pick, and if they do, where it will fall in the draft. Lakers fans will just have to sit tight and ride out the rumor rollercoaster until then.
Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here or listen to our latest episode, including some draft talk, below), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.