Like the other 29 teams, the Los Angeles Lakers have been knee-deep in draft prep and have been hosting workouts in preparation for the upcoming 2022 NBA Draft.
The Lakers recently held another round of workouts that included Oregon guard Will Richardson. Richardson possesses good size at the guard spot and would be another intriguing undrafted prospect should he not be selected.
After his workout, Richardson detailed how it went and what he can bring to a team.
“It was a great workout. The coaching staff was really involved, got us going,” Richardson said. “What I bring to the table is I’m an older guy so leadership, I’m vocal, I know how to play the right way. I know all the reads and how to keep my teammates going in the game and stuff. On the court, I do a little bit of everything. I can play on the ball, off the ball. I can really shoot, I can dribble, pass, an average defender.”
As far as feedback goes, Richardson said Los Angeles told him to stay true to himself. “Just being competitive and vocal, being who you are and not trying to be something more than what you are. Doing your role and playing it the best. If you’re a great defender, go out and extend every play. And the most important part is just be in shape, never be out of shape.
“That’s the thing that’s gonna help you the most, especially going through this process where you’re flying city to city, place to place. A flight here, coming in late and eating late, so just taking care of your body and just staying in shape, don’t ever be tired.”
Right now, Richardson is projected to go outside of the 58 selections, which means he could be had for the Lakers as an undrafted free agent. He will be a name to watch between now and the draft.
Will Richardson highlights ball screen details during Lakers workout
Teams will generally put prospects through similar drills to test their ability, but Richardson pointed out the Lakers had a particular emphasis on defending ball screens.
“A lot of them are the same. The way we play 3-on-3s are a lot different at every place. Some got different actions, some want ball screens. I’ll say one thing that stood out today is they emphasized the way we guarded the ball screens. So we iced on the side and shed technique or to the left on middle ball screens. So that was interesting right there.”
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