They were in an all-out competition during the Lakers’ pre-draft workout Saturday, each player attempting to prove their worth of playing in the NBA for this franchise.
They were there to show in each drill why the Lakers should use their No. 22 pick in the first round of the draft on July 29 to pick one of them.
“Anytime you have other draft prospects in a room, it’s always competitive because everyone is trying to get a job,” said Ayo Dosunmu, a 6-5 junior guard from Illinois who is shown in many draft boards going in the late 20s of the NBA’s draft.
“Today we had a pretty good group. And I just went out there and competed. That’s all I know how to do is compete. I know how to play as hard as I can. I try to dominate each drill and just play on both ends, try to be a complete player and that’s what I try to show.”
The Lakers had six players at the workout at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo, four guards and two centers.
Jaden Springer, a 6-4 freshman guard from Tennessee, said “of course you’re going out there” to show the Lakers why they should select him at the July 29 draft.
“Every time you step out there on the court and you go against somebody, you got to go out there to compete, cause at the same time ya’ll both competing for a spot,” the 18-year-old Springer, who is expected to go later in the first round or early in the second, said. “So, you got to show them that you deserve this and you deserve to be there on the team.”
All of them are aware that the Lakers are in a win-now mode with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The 21-year-old Dosunmu is not shying away from that.
“Definitely, I pay my agent a good amount of money to put me in position to go out there and show my talents to a team that I can go out there and perform well on,” he said. “So, definitely the Lakers are one of those teams. And me, going three years at Illinois and playing at the highest level in Illinois, being one of the first guards to average 26 [points] and five [assists] in the Big Ten, being an overall complete player, I think definitely that will translate to a contending team.”
The Lakers also worked out Serbian Balsa Koprivica, a 7-1 center from Florida State, Georgian Sandro Mamukelashvili, a 6-11 center from Seton Hall, Miles McBride, a 6-2 point guard from West Virginia and Mac McClung, a 6-2 guard from Texas Tech.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.