Getty Tacko Fall of the UCF Knights reacts against the Duke Blue Devils.
The NBA world took notice of UFC’s monstrous center, Tacko Fall, last season. While a very unpolished basketball player, Fall is big enough to the point where at least a few NBA teams are willing to take a gamble on him. Standing 7’7″ in shoes and possessing an 8’2″ wingspan, Fall has dimensions that the NBA has never really seen before. Mo Bamba set a combine record with an impressive 7’10” wingspan last season and Fall utterly destroyed that by nearly four inches.
After his workout with the Orlando Magic today, The Athletic’s Josh Robbins reported that there are a few other teams in line to work out for, including the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lakers NBA Draft News: Tacko Fall Set to Work Out for the Purple and Gold
Tacko Fall, who worked out for the Magic today, said he’s worked out with the Kings already. He said he has workouts scheduled with the Pacers, Knicks, Lakers, Cavaliers and Hornets, with the possibility more teams will be added, schedule permitting.
With the Lakers in need of both a big man and cheap young talent to bring in alongside a potential max contract free agent, Tacko Fall makes sense as either a late second rounder or as an undrafted free agent. While an incredibly raw basketball player, you simply cannot teach his size and Fall set NBA records across the board for his size at the combine.
Fall definitely isn’t the type of player the Lakers could expect to contribute next year or even possibly the year after. Fall would benefit tremendously from some extra seasoning down in the NBA’s G-League as the extra time would help him fill out his rail-thin frame while adding some actual post moves to his arsenal.
Barring a colossal mishap at Fall’s workout for the Lakers, expect them to make him a top priority should they opt to trade back into the second round or add talent via the undrafted free agent market.
Other Notable Undrafted/Late Second Round NBA Draft Targets
Beyond a big man, the Lakers have a ton of holes in their roster that they need to address. One possible route they could take would be to look into the Martin twins from Nevada. Caleb and Cody are two of the more NBA-ready players in the draft class yet find themselves on the outside looking in given their age.
Especially with a quick exit from Nevada in this past season’s NCAA tournament, the two didn’t do much to help their draft stock and should be available to now be scooped up after the draft ends. Both twins play out on the wing and do a little bit of everything. While they aren’t the best shooters, Caleb tends to be a bit more confident with his shot and is the aggressive scorer of the two whereas Cody excels at facilitating and locking up on the defensive end.