Thursday the Los Angeles Lakers had their long awaited workout with Washington point guard Markelle Fultz, who is viewed by many as the top prospect in the upcoming NBA Draft.
While Fultz will likely be taken by the Boston Celtics with the top overall pick, the Lakers brass still wanted to take a look at him in case the Celtics decide to go elsewhere with their pick.
Fultz’s natural position is point guard, but his best attribute is his ability to score in a variety of ways, which is similar to the Lakers current point guard, 2015 No. 2 overall pick D’Angelo Russell.
Despite the two players having similar skill sets, Fultz believes that if he were to be drafted by the Lakers that he and Russell would fit well together, via Lakers Nation reporter Ryan Ward:
Markelle Fultz on how he’d coexist with D’Angelo Russell: “I think we could fit well.” #Lakers
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) June 15, 2017
With the Lakers likely drafting a point guard like Fultz, Lonzo Ball or De’Aaron Fox with the No. 2 pick, a lot has been talked about what that means for Russell.
It is possible that the Lakers shop Russell to see what they can get for him in the trade market, but Russell also played a lot of shooting guard down the stretch and excelled due to his natural scoring ability.
Ball and Russell may be a better fit than Fultz and Russell due to Ball’s playmaking ability, but if Fultz is available to the Lakers at No. 2 that could be hard to pass up.
Fultz averaged 23.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from three in his one season at Washington.
The NBA Draft is set for Thursday, June 22, so the Lakers brass has one week left to decide what prospect is best for the Lakers historic franchise.