The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly are "locked in" on selecting center Jahlil Okafor in the 2015 NBA draft, despite "going through the motions" of working out point guards D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay. This follows news of Minnesota Timberwolves president and coach Flip Saunders seemingly softening his stance on drafting center Karl-Anthony Towns first overall.
Towns purportedly was the Lakers' top choice in the upcoming draft, and recent reports indicated the Kentucky freshman would be available for the Lakers at the No. 2 spot. That may no longer be the case, and according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, the Lakers now are set on Okafor.
"The Lakers are going through the motions with other draft prospects-D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay have been in for workouts-but multiple league sources say L.A. is locked in on Okafor," Mannix wrote Wednesday. "Despite being overtaken by Towns, scouts still see Okafor as a franchise center-one with an enormous upside."
Mannix's report doesn't address whether Los Angeles would go with Towns if he were still on the board, but it's looking increasingly likely that Towns won't be. After at least three reports claimed Saunders preferred Okafor, things seemed to have shifted in Minnesota. Saunders recently told Sports Illustrated he would go with the best player in the draft, and many scouts believe that is Towns.
Although reports said Los Angeles was undecided between Okafor, Russell and Mudiay, it's difficult to see the team leaving Okafor on the board in favor of one of the guards.
