Tag: Giorgi Bezhanishvili

Lakers conduct draft workouts with six participants Wednesday

The Los Angeles Lakers worked out six prospects Wednesday for the NBA draft process.

The NBA draft always takes plenty of work in advance in order for teams to be confident with their selections when the draft clock begins ticking.

The Los Angeles Lakers have the No. 22 overall pick in this year’s draft, barring any trades.

With the draft date of July 29 fast approaching, the Lakers are continuing the evaluation process by conducting individual workouts with players.

Los Angeles also interviewed several players at the NBA draft combine in June, like Corey Kispert of Gonzaga, Trey Murphy III of Virginia and more.

Los Angeles’ preparation continued Wednesday as they worked out six prospects, via Ryan Ward of Lakers Nation:

These players aren’t projected to be first-round draft pick options for the Lakers, and it’s uncertain if they’ll go in the second round, too.

The Lakers could be doing more due diligence to add talent to the South Bay Lakers of the G League or during Summer League in Las Vegas.

From those six players, Giorgi Bezhanishvili and Cody Riley are small-ball big men, which are the type of players usually playing center in the G League.

Matt Coleman, LJ Figueroa, Alan Griffin and Jason Preston are all guards capable of knocking down 3-pointers on solid volume.

Preston is arguably the best prospect L.A. could add to evaluate further. At Ohio this past season, he averaged 15.7 points, 7.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals while shooting 51.4 percent from the field on 12.4 attempts and 39 percent from deep on 4.1 attempts. He’s listed as 6’4″, making for an intriguing player.

Preston talked with Lakers media after his session and had this to say, via Ryan Ward:

Los Angeles’ roster doesn’t comprise of many young prospects, so with the limited cap space L.A. is dealing with this summer, trying to find hidden gems could be a worthwhile investment.

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Report: Lakers will workout Illinois forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili

The Los Angeles Lakers will bring in Illinois’ Giorgi Bezhanishvili for a workout Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Lakers will have the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft that will transpire on July 29.

During the draft combine that recently occurred, the Lakers had reportedly interviewed various players from different positions.

The list of interviewees included Gonzaga forward Corey Kispert, Tennessee guard Jaden Springer, Virginia forward Trey Murphy III and Utah State center Neemias Queta.

Kispert, Springer and Murphy III could all be options for Los Angeles at No. 22 if they’re available given the promise all three have shown on defense and with their perimeter shooting skills.

But the Lakers are also doing their due diligence on players outside of that No. 22 range, which players like Queta would fall under.

According to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, the Lakers will workout Illinois forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili:

Bezhanishvili declared for the draft after three seasons with Illinois, but his numbers and minutes have declined every season.

After being a typical starter for Illinois during his first two seasons, Bezhanishvili didn’t log any starts in the 2020-21 campaign.

In 14.5 minutes per game this season, he averaged 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists while shooting 54.5 percent overall on 4.0 attempts, 50 percent from deep on only 0.2 attempts and 62.9 percent from the free-throw line on 1.1 attempts.

Those numbers don’t jump out as someone the Lakers would select at No. 22 overall, but it could be L.A. doing more research on a prospect they like to stash and see more of.

Bezhanishvili is more of a small-ball center archetype, but he’s not a good shooter yet as evident by his percentages and volume of attempts.

There’s a good chance he’ll go undrafted on draft night given his drop in production, but if the Lakers like what they see Wednesday, they could make a play for him and involve him during the Las Vegas Summer League or with the South Bay Lakers since the G League is slated to return.

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