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De’Aaron Fox is without a doubt a player the Los Angeles Lakers are considering selecting with the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The team is set to work out the athletic guard from Kentucky next week, and he had reportedly drawn the Lakers’ interest by dominating UCLA and fellow top prospect Lonzo Ball in the NCAA tournament.
However, according to the latest from Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report, the Lakers may not be as much of a slave to the moment as previously thought.
In his report on the Lakers’ thoughts about the draft process thus far, Ding wrote that (emphasis mine) the Lakers “remain intrigued by Markelle Fultz and Josh Jackson, and to a lesser extent De'Aaron Fox, along with Ball for their No. 2 overall pick.”
The Lakers dropping Fox below those prospects on their board would make some sense. Draft Express has Fox rated as the fifth-best player in the draft, while the other three players Ding mentioned make up the top-three.
One game does not a superstar make, and when so much of Fox’s plaudits seem to center on one (albeit amazing) game against Ball in the NCAA tournament, it doesn’t mean he’s a better player.
To be fair to Fox, the Lakers were also reportedly not “blown away” by Ball either, and with the Lakers “hopeful” for a meeting with Fultz and their workout with Jackson going “great,” it seems to be a mystery who they’ll ultimately pick. Reportedly, that’s just the way the new front office wants it.
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 our latest episode below), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.