Evan Mobley said his favorite team growing up was the Thunder

NBA draft prospect Evan Mobley grew up in LA, but his favorite team wasn’t the Lakers — it was the Thunder.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are rumored to have been trying hard to trade up in recent days. One conversation they may have had is with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who hold the No. 3 pick in the NBA draft.

If the Thunder can get that pick, they’d likely be in position to draft Evan Mobley, one of the most unique bigs who has come through the draft in recent years.

It sounds like the interest might be mutual. A recent draft hype-style video shows Mobley and fellow projected top-five pick Jalen Suggs talking. Suggs asked Mobley what his favorite team was as he grew up.

Mobley grew up in California and attended Rancho Christian High School in Temecula, Calif., which is located between San Diego and Los Angeles, but his favorite team wasn’t the Lakers.

He said in the video that it was the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“They had a tough squad,” Suggs agreed.

Both prospects were born in 2001, so by the time they were teenagers, the Lakers’ years of dominance were long gone. But the Thunder were dominant in the youngsters’ formidable years. They would have grown up watching Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant dominate.

Rumors dictate that Mobley will be picked third, a selection currently held by the Cavaliers, and Suggs fourth, a pick belonging to the Toronto Raptors.

But the Thunder could try to position themselves to take Mobley, who has already professed a fondness for Oklahoma City.