Lakers News: Latest Draft Buzz Surrounding Kristaps Porzingis, Emmanuel Mudiay

With a week remaining before the 2015 NBA draft, the Lakers continue to hold the power to swing the entire conversation next Thursday. The Timberwolves are selecting Karl-Anthony Towns. They won't say it and may even put up a smokescreen here or there going forward, but it's basketball's worst-kept secret.

For much of the pre-draft process, the Lakers' pick at No. 2 was seen as equally self-explanatory. Duke's Jahlil Okafor was the top player on the board for nearly the entire college basketball season and represented a chance for the Lakers to replace the foundational big they lost in Dwight Howard. Okafor also seemed primed for the L.A. spotlight, having won at every level of basketball he's played dating back to his youth.

"Being here in Lakerland, walking around, a lot of Lakers fans say they want me here, telling me they want to win," Okafor said, per Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times. "I love it."

All seemed to be trending toward a happy marriage. The overwhelming odds remain that it still will. That said, there are real cracks in the Okafor-to-Los Angeles foundation that are getting bigger as we head toward draft night.

For one, the team seems intent on scheduling private workouts with other top-five players. Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis was in Los Angeles on Monday for a private workout with team brass, who came away impressed with his public workout in Las Vegas. Porzingis is in play as high as No. 3 to the Sixers, but Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski described him as "pursuing" the No. 2 spot.

The 7-footer might have the most varied skill set of any player in this class on paper. He can stretch comfortably to the three-point line, has athleticism that allows him to play above the rim and shows a willingness to challenge shots at the rim despite his slight stature.

“I don’t like being labeled soft,” Porzingis told Wojnarowski. “I’m very hungry. I love the game. I’ve got to prove to coaches and GMs that I’m not soft just because I’m from Europe. They need to see that I’m not just some skinny white guy, that I’m going to be there fighting. They’ll need to see that I’m a worker who’s going to play hard, and play tough."

The team also brought in point guard Emmanuel Mudiay for a second workout Thursday, per Bill Oram of the O.C. Register. He's the first in a trio of players—Okafor and Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell being the other two—who will make the trip for a second workout before the draft. Mudiay is almost certainly out of the picture at No. 2, as he's been trending down boards and might not even be a top-five selection at this point.

The battle between Okafor and Russell, however, is pretty interesting. I've had Russell second on my board (one spot ahead of Okafor) for more than a month. ESPN's Chad Ford now favors Russell, as do a number of others who get paid to do this for a living.

"Incredible confidence, incredible poise," a scout told Ryen Russillo, writing for Grantland, about Russell. "Great size. Not a great athlete, not very strong. I think what has happened to him is, because the game is so easy for him and he’s had such great success, his deficiencies haven’t manifested yet. I think that they will to a degree. And I’ll be very curious to see how he addresses it."

The decision will come down to Russell, Okafor and Porzingis, with the former two being the heavy favorites. Okafor is the safest choice. Since the beginning of time, basketball has favored bigs. Even in the small-ball world in which we live, a big man who can post up and use his basketball IQ to swing the ball out on the perimeter has a ton of value. Okafor is a plus passer who will probably be a 15-8 guy as a rookie; he's the clear favorite for Rookie of the Year.

But there are legitimate fit questions. The Lakers need help at nearly every position, yet a year ago they selected a player in Julius Randle whose skill set overlaps with Okafor's. Randle's NBA career never got off the ground because he was hurt opening night, so it'd be hard for the Lakers to make a decision based on his trajectory.

If they feel Russell and Okafor are generally similar, though? Don't be surprised if some jaws hit the floor next Thursday.