NBA Draft 2017: Lakers to work out Josh Hart, Jawun Evans and others Monday

The Los Angeles Lakers are continuing to deliberate over who they want to draft with both the second and 28th overall picks in the 2017 NBA Draft. The Monday workout they announced Friday should help them more with the latter draft choice than the former.

The Lakers plan to bring Jawun Evans of Oklahoma State, Josh Hart of Villanova, T.J. Cline of Richmond, Monte Morris of Iowa State, Roger Moute a Bidias of U.C. Berkeley and Tyler Roberson of Syracuse in for a workout at their practice facility Monday, according to the team.

Hart might be the most well-known of this group of prospects after leading Villanova on a thrilling run to the national title in the NCAA tournament a year ago. The 6’6 guard chose to forgo the 2016 NBA Draft and return for his senior season, averaging 18.7 points and 6.4 rebounds in his final college campaign.

However, Hart’s stock is considerably lower than the Lakers’ 28th pick. DraftExpress has him ranked as the 50th-best prospect in the draft, although he could potentially be a player the Lakers like enough to buy a second-rounder for or try to go after in undrafted free agency should Hart fall out of the draft entirely.

Jawun Evans isn’t as big of a name as Hart, but is likely the main draw for the Lakers here. The 27th-ranked prospect in the draft according to DraftExpress, Evans is projected to be selected right around where the Lakers are drafting after a sophomore season that saw him average 19 points and 6.5 assists for OSU.

In the most recent episode of Locked on Lakers, the Ringer’s Jonathan Tjarks said Evans was one of the players he liked most for the Lakers with their later first round choice.

Monte Morris, the 66th ranked prospect in the draft according to DraftExpress, could be another target for the Lakers’ Las Vegas Summer League roster and/or the South Bay Lakers in undrafted free agency.

Moute a Bidias, Roberson and Cline are not listed among DraftExpress’ top-100 prospects.

Here is an updating list of every player the Lakers have worked out or met with. Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here or listen to us chat with Tjarks about the Lakers’ draft options in our latest episod below), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.