At this point, the Los Angeles Lakers are entirely focused on May 17 when the team will learn its fate during the NBA Draft Lottery. Once the order of the top three picks in the upcoming draft are determined on Tuesday, the Lakers brass will figure out where to go from there, including what their intentions may be with their second-round pick.
One player the Lakers could consider selecting with the 32nd pick overall is seven-footer Thon Maker. Apparently, Los Angeles has already met with the 19-year-old along with quite a few other NBA teams, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv:
He will work out next week for the Indiana Pacers (likely on Wednesday), while Atlanta, Boston, Orlando, Detroit and Minnesota are expected to bring him in for workouts, a source told SNY.tv. He met here with Minnesota, Boston, Charlotte, Portland, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Detroit, Orlando and the Lakers.
Maker has been tabbed a second-round pick in most NBA mock drafts. However, MyNBADraft.com has him being taken in the late first round. Maker’s draft position will likely continue to fluctuate in the coming weeks following workouts and evaluations from teams around the league.
Maker is an interesting case due to the fact the league has made an exception for him to enter the NBA Draft, via ESPN’s Chad Ford:
Thon Maker was just cleared by the NBA to enter the 2016 NBA Draft according to sources. Story coming …
— Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) April 14, 2016
NBA ruled Thon Maker was one year removed from graduating from high school. He will hire an agent, ending his college eligibility
— Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) April 14, 2016
Along with the added attention of going directly from high school to professional level, Maker has received an interesting comparison to superstar Kevin Durant, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com:
The video shows him dribbling behind the back, throwing down vicious dunks, nailing jumpers and layups and rejecting shot after shot. He looks like a cross between Dikembe Mutombo and Kevin Durant – pretty good company – in the video. But he also said it really does not reflect his game.
Maker recently talked about the comparison to the one-time NBA MVP and how he doesn’t see it that way, via Zagoria:
“Exactly, I like Durant as a player,” Maker, who is originally from Sudan and has lived in Australia, the U.S. and Canada, said with a chuckle here Friday. “They [the media] say I think I think I’m Durant.”
The Durant comparison will be enough to turn Marker into an intriguing prospect over the next few weeks. Although the Lakers have already met with Maker, there’s been no indication whether he’s left the team wanting to see more in a workout. It would be safe to assume the Lakers brass will bring him in for a closer look in the coming weeks if they view him as a legitimate option in the second round.