Jumping 46 inches, UCLA’s Zach LaVine broke the vertical leap record for his hometown Lakers on Wednesday, reports Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. LaVine, who was one of 12 prospects in today’s workout in L.A., projects as a mid-first round pick but has the type of upside that could propel him into the top 10 should he continue to impress. Bresnahan outlines the team’s morning workout as well in a separate post.
Hear are some other reports, draft-related and otherwise, coming out of Los Angeles today:
- Nik Stauskas and Rodney Hood both backed out of the Lakers workout on Wednesday, reports ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (via Twitter). The duo, both surefire first rounders, were replaced by Davion Berry of Weber State and Jerry Evans of Nevada.
- In what seems to be becoming a theme, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak told McMenamin that need is not really a part of the team’s strategy at No. 7: “Because we’ve only got four players on the roster, we’re not really limited to looking at a position. We need help everywhere.” (via Twitter)
- Mark Medina also has some similar draft nuggets from Kupchak in his latest, but also touches on the team’s coaching search, which the GM described as “ongoing” on Wednesday. Medina believes that Kupchak prefers a veteran coach but wouldn’t rule out something as open-minded as hiring former Laker Derek Fisher. The last we heard about the team’s coaching search was that SMU coach Larry Brown would not be part of it.