Lakers have worked out nearly 80 prospects for Thursday’s NBA draft

The Lakers own three selections in Thursday’s NBA draft: No. 2, No. 27 and No. 34.

Over the past few weeks, the team has auditioned roughly 80 candidates at their practice facility in El Segundo.

For the Lakers No. 2 pick, the team looked at Duke center Jahlil Okafor, Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell and guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who played in China last season. Each player auditioned on two occasions for the team.

The Lakers observed Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis in a public workout in Las Vegas, before bringing him back to Los Angeles for a private look.

According to the June 22 mock draft at website DraftExpress.com, Okafor projects to go second, Russell third, Porzingis fourth and Mudiay seventh. The Lakers were unable to secure a workout with Kentucky forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns, who is expected to be the top overall selection by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Lakers also took a look at Murray State guard Cameron Payne (mocked at 14th overall), along with six others projected to be drafted in the first round: Utah’s Delon Wright (21st), Arizona forwards Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (22nd), Nevada Las Vegas guard Rashad Vaughn (26th), Virginia forward Justin Anderson, (27th), Texas forward Jonathan Holms (28th) and Louisville guard Terry Rozier (30th).

A number of projected second-rounders also came through the Lakers’ doors for workouts: Stanford forward Anthony Brown (31st), Kansas forward/center Cliff Alexander (34th), Syracuse center Rakeem Christmas (36th), Louisiana State forward Jordan Mickey (37th), Kentucky center Dakari Johnson (40th), North Carolina guard J.P. Tokoto (41st), Notre Dame guard Pat Connaughton (42nd), Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison (43rd), Bowling Green forward Richaun Holmes (47th), Boston College guard Olivier Hanlan (48th), UCLA guard Norman Powell (50th), Florida guard Michael Frazier (53rd), Texas El Paso forward Vince Hunter (54th), Eastern Washington guard Tyler Harvey (55th), Wyoming forward Larry Nance Jr. (56th) and Massachusetts forward/center Cady Lalanne (60th).

In an interview with website HoopsRumors.com, Powell said he’ll return to El Segundo for a second workout Wednesday.

The Lakers may not agree with the DraftExpress.com rankings, giving players like Georgetown center Joshua Smith, formerly of UCLA, and Florida guard Cory Hawkins, son of former player Hersey Hawkins, some hope to hear their name called Thursday. Approximately 50 of the team’s workout candidates aren’t projected to be drafted.

Two players pulled their name from the draft altogether -- French center Alpha Kaba and Brazilian point guard George de Paula.

If not drafted, some could earn invites for the team’s summer league squad in Las Vegas in July or training camp in October.

Email Eric Pincus at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.