Lakers Draft Rumors: International Prospect Abudushalamu Abudurexiti Participated In Workout

Matthew Moreno
2 Min Read

Not long after their season came to an end, the Los Angeles Lakers entered into their final preparation for the 2018 NBA Draft. The team shared photos on social media of general manager Rob Pelinka and director of scouting Jesse Buss traveling abroad to get a look at prospects.

More recently, the Lakers have held three workouts at their UCLA Health Training Center. The first, which included Louisville’s Deng Adel, was not open to media. However, portions of the last two sessions this week were.

The two groups of six draft prospects have featured Nevada twins Caleb and Cody Martin, Arizona’s Allonzo Trier and USC’s Chimezie Metu, among others. It also appears the Lakers have done some work behind the scenes.

According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic, they were one of the teams to hold a pre-draft workout with international prospect Abudushalamu Abudurexiti:

Not much is known about Abudurexiti, who is listed at 6 feet 8 eight inches tall and 200 lbs. He shot a career-best 32.9 percent behind the arc, which may pique the Lakers’ interest.

Abudurexiti played in 42 games this season, his third with the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. He averaged 6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 made 3-pointers per game.

Considering that Abudurexiti isn’t a heralded draft prospect, he presumably would be a candidate for their 47th overall pick (second round) of the 2018 Draft, or an option to be signed as an undrafted free agent.

Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Managing Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Lakers games, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com