March Madness has officially begun giving many people the opportunity to check out some of the best draft prospects of the 2015 class. There are some international players, however, who could be top picks in the upcoming draft as well.
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As such, Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak is planning on taking a scouting trip to Europe according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak plans to travel to Europe for a scouting trip beginning Monday, though it was not clear which countries he will visit.
While it is unknown which countries Kupchak intends to visit, the main European prospects are pretty well known and Kupchak could be looking to check out a number of players. Big man Kristaps Porzingis of Latvia and small forward Mario Hezonja of Croatia are possibilities for the Lakers assuming they keep their top-5 protected pick, especially if that pick falls to fifth.
As far as the Lakers’ other draft picks, Timothe Luwawu and Aleksandar Vezenkov are the other European prospects currently projected as late-first or early-second round draft picks though there could be any number of players Kupchak winds up scouting while overseas.
The importance of this summer is not lost on the Lakers’ organization and the team must draft well in order to set the team up well for the present and the future. Kupchak will make sure he checks out all possibilities when it comes to this year’s draft.
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