6:42pm: There’s a 90% chance the Lakers draft Russell, a source told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
6:07pm: The increasing belief is that the Lakers will take D’Angelo Russell, and not Jahlil Okafor, with the No. 2 pick, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Chad Ford of ESPN.com has Russell going to the Lakers in his latest mock draft amid the growing belief within the Lakers organization that they’ll land either LaMarcus Aldridge or Kevin Love in free agency.
Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding reported earlier today that the front office had been coming to a growing consensus on the Ohio State guard, though Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com heard the team had yet to decide, and Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reported that they were leaning toward Okafor, as we passed along. Either way, we’ll find out soon, with the Lakers scheduled to pick within the hour.
Lakers spokesman John Black says that he knows whom the team will draft, indicating that a decision has been made, tweets Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.