NBA Draft Rumors: Lakers Yet to Schedule Ben Simmons Workout

Despite his pedigree ties to point guard D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers have reportedly still not scheduled a pre-NBA Draft workout with Ben Simmons

For much of the college basketball season and well before the class of freshmen ever even got on their respective campuses, LSU Tigers freshman Ben Simmons was the consensus No. 1 overall pick for the 2016 NBA Draft. With the way that Brandon Ingram’s stock has risen, though, many have wondered whether or not things would get switched up and the Los Angeles Lakers would have a shot at Simmons with the No. 2 overall pick.

Though we can’t know for sure and though it’s not always an indication of such things, it doesn’t wholly seem like the Lakers feel they have a viable chance of Simmons falling to them.

According to a report from Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers have still not even scheduled a workout with Ben Simmons with less than three weeks remaining until the 2016 NBA Draft on June 23:

It’s first worth noting that there have been plenty of high lottery picks that have been taken without having ever worked out for a team. Sometimes teams who are secretive—you know, like the Lakers—like to keep their plans under raps and doing stuff like this could serve as a smokescreen to throw other teams off of their game in the draft.

However, there’s also the chance that this is an indication of how the Lakers have heard the draft will play out as they are picking second. After all, why waste the time in the evaluation process looking at a player who is without question not going to be on the board when you make your selection?

Next: Report: Ben Simmons Gained 20 Pounds Since Leaving LSU

Obviously NBA and Lakers fans will find out what this all means come June 23 and the 2016 NBA Draft. For now, though, it’s definitely something worth keeping an eye on to see if the Lakers do schedule a meeting and workout with Simmons or not.