NBA Draft 2014: Aaron Gordon and Marcus Smart to work out for Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have been incredibly busy in advance of the 2014 NBA Draft, and this year, they have a very good reason for being proactive. In addition to actively looking for a head coach, the Lakers hold the seventh overall pick, and at this time, all indications are that they will stay put and select a high-profile player at that spot. In accordance with that, Los Angeles is reportedly set to host by Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart and Arizona forward Aaron Gordon for the second time on Friday.

As noted above by Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report, Smart and Gordon will be joined by the trio of Louisiana-Lafayette guard Elfrid Payton (who was already scheduled to attend), North Carolina swingman P.J. Hairston (ditto), and Michigan shooting guard Nik Stauskas, but Smart and Gordon appear to the “main event”. Chad Ford of ESPN currently projects the Lakers to select Smart with the 7th pick, but if the versatile and athletic Gordon were to fall to that position, Los Angeles would have an interesting choice.

Because the Lakers have an incredible amount of roster flexibility (i.e. they basically have the entire roster available), Los Angeles could be drafting for “best player available” in this spot. Aaron Gordon would seem to be the primary target if that was the case, but at the same time, there is a much greater chance of Marcus Smart being available, and the Lakers can also have him directly compete against the aforementioned Payton for valuable information.

The soap opera continues (as always) in Los Angeles.