Lonzo Ball was in Los Angeles Wednesday to participate in what could be his only workout of the pre-draft process. ESPN’s Jeff Goodman reported the workout was in the 45 minutes to an hour range. Goodman also noted the Lakers wanted to see how Ball shoots the ball. Ball’s shot was effective in college, but Ball has an unorthodox hitch in his form causing many to question if it will translate to the NBA.
Here’s a look at Goodman’s full recap of Ball’s workout with the Lakers:
As expected, Ball was positive about the workout in his media session after the drills concluded.
“I thought it was a lot of fun. It got me tired. I’m gonna sleep for the rest of the day…It was a lot of shooting, a lot of pivots, a lot of pull-ups — typical shooting drills,” Ball told NBA.com.
Ball noted Magic Johnson and the Lakers coaching staff were in attendance. Several media members in attendance remarked on how packed the facility was even though the workout was closed to the media.
There’s a massive media presence at the LAL facility awaiting Lonzo’s post workout availability. More than I’ve seen in my 9 years here.
Unlike the end of group workouts, where media sees the final shooting drill, none of Lonzo’s workout was open to media
Ball’s workout was met with increased intrigue after rumors have heated up around the Lakers taking another player with the No. 2 pick.
As RealGM’s Keith Smith reported, the league does not appear to be putting much stock in those rumors, and most expect Ball to be the pick for the Lakers in a couple weeks.
Every NBA front office person I have talked to still expects the Lakers to draft Lonzo Ball. Most said “those reports are just noise.”
Heavy agrees with this sentiment and has Ball going to the Lakers in our latest mock draft.
Lakers coach Luke Walton told Jim Rome , LaVar Ball would not be welcome at the workout but could come to the dinner afterwards.
“Absolutely. If he [LaVar Ball] wanted to come to the dinner,” Walton told Jim Rome (via CBS Sports). “I think the workout is something that we’ll keep the doors closed on, but the dinner, I think he would definitely make the dinner more entertaining. He’s definitely welcome to join us for that one.”
Here’s a look at Ball meeting with Walton and the Lakers crew on Tuesday night:
Unrelated to his draft stock, Ball wore Adidas shoes during the workout. Unless he changed shoes to talk to reporters, it appears Ball wore the Adidas kicks over his signature Big Baller Brand. Here’s a photo courtesy of Getty:
(Getty)