The Tribune

By INIGO 'NAUGHTY' ZENICAZELAYA

WITH pre-draft rumours continuing to swirl around the Lakers and their second overall pick, here are some rumours that may actually pan out if the Lakers decide to pass on LA native and UCLA star point guard Lonzo Ball.

Lonzo So So

With a report surfacing Sunday that the Los Angeles Lakers thought Lonzo Ball looked “out of shape” during his workout with the team, David Aldridge of NBA.com confirmed the report on Monday morning, when he wrote: “a few sources tell me that Ball has not had great pre-draft workouts.”

None of this is surprising. As various teams and agents try to get the players they want at this time of year, there are always going to be these types of leaks.

The best thing to do to stay sane during the silly season is to remember that every leak has a motivation, this stuff almost never happens by accident.

That being said, according to two other separate reports of Ball not looking great in his workouts isn’t necessarily a great look for him after how much bombast his family entered the draft process with.

Both reports stated that Ball shouldn’t be expected to look great in a one-on-one workout, and there is also the fact that he might have had his conditioning set back by a late-season hamstring injury, but it’s still not ideal that he went into potentially the biggest job interviews in his life reportedly looking less than his best.

All of this still doesn’t really mean anything until June 22 when we’ll know what reports about the Lakers’ interest were smoke, and which were fire.

If not Lonzo ?????

As rumours swirl over which player the Los Angeles Lakers will select with the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, a report has surfaced that they may have already decided.

According to reports from Phoenix-based sports talk show host John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, Kansas forward Josh Jackson “has been promised” and that said promise “likely” came from the Lakers, although Gambadoro himself notes it’s possible it came from the Philadelphia 76ers.

Does this mean the Lakers are for sure drafting Josh Jackson?

Absolutely not!

A lot of this stuff around draft time is theory-based, and it’s likely that this information or idea is coming from the Suns or someone around the Suns in this case. That person (or persons) don’t necessarily have knowledge on the Lakers’ thinking, they could just be connecting dots based on the information they have.

It’s also worth noting here that the Lakers are reportedly interested in confusing teams behind them in the draft, so this could be the results of that effort.

Possible ‘Dark Horse’

on the horizon

NC State point guard Dennis Smith Jr’s workout sounds like it went extremely well. The Lakers brass were “very impressed” with what they saw from Smith, with one source adding that the Lakers “have some tough decisions to make.”

Smith himself said that Lakers head coach Luke Walton called his group “the hardest working group, out of all that we’ve hosted” and Mark Medina of the Southern California News Group reported that Smith posted a staggering 48-inch vertical leap when the team tested him.

All due praise to Smith aside, this doesn’t mean Ball getting selected is necessarily in jeopardy. Smith being impressive and Ball still being the better prospect can both be true.

It’s reportedly known that the Lakers want the rest of the league in the dark about who they’re picking, so all this could be smoke in order to make sure that a team that really wants Jackson or Smith has to try and trade up.

Alternatively, all of these reports could be accurate reflections of the Lakers’ thinking, and maybe that will really lead to them picking another player besides Ball. Perhaps they would even trade down and take Smith (who is projected to go 10th overall by Draft Express) and get an extra asset if they really like him.

Again we really won’t know until June 22, although it won’t stop everyone from trying to guess until then.

This should tide you rabid Laker fans over until next week’s hot NBA Draft rumours.

I’m off to watch game 5 of the NBA Finals where, if my prediction stands the test, the Warriors will be NBA champions in 5!!

• Naughty presents ‘Mischief and Mayhem in da AM’ from 6am to 10am, Monday to Friday and ‘The Press Box’ sports talk show on Sunday from 10am to 1pm, on KISS FM 96.1. Comments and questions to naughty@tribunemedia.net