Lakers Rumors: LA Set on Taking Jahlil Okafor With 2nd Pick

The decision the Lakers will make on June 25th will dictate the next 10-15 years of this franchise. So it’s safe to say that it’s rather important the Lakers get this right, otherwise this rebuilding process could take much longer than expected.

-== How The Top 5 NBA Prospects Fit With The Lakers ==-

Surely, you’ve heard this hundreds of times by now, but Jahlil Okafor is the easy pick for the Lakers for all the obvious reasons. However, the Lakers have done their due diligence and they brought in Emmanuel Mudiay and D’Angelo Russell for a meeting and workout.

All we can do is speculate at this point, but according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, the Lakers are set on taking Okafor with the second overall pick:

"The Lakers are going through the motions with other draft prospects—D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay have been in for workouts—but multiple league sources say L.A. is locked in on Okafor. Despite being overtaken by Towns, scouts still see Okafor as a franchise center—one with an enormous upside."

Okafor was the consensus number one overall pick for most of the year, but his stock dropped after Duke won the National Championship. Karl-Anthony Towns took over that number one spot, which leaves Okafor for the Lakers and according to this report, they are thrilled he will be available.

Offensively, Okafor’s game will translate nicely to the NBA. His defense is the issue that everybody keeps talking about, but if the big man can get in shape and dedicate himself to the defensive end, then he will be just fine.