It is no secret that the Los Angeles Lakers have a big offseason ahead of them in free agency. Before that, the Lakers hope to refine their roster through the 2018 NBA Draft.

It appears the Lakers' brass has gotten a head start on the process by showing heavy interest in one prospect in particular. According to Aran Smith of NBADraft.net, Los Angeles has reportedly promised NBA prospect Mitchell Robinson that they will take him with the 25th overall pick:

“The second rumored promise that we have heard coming out of the Chicago predraft camp is that the Lakers have promised Mitchell Robinson, which could explain his decision not to participate in predraft activities,” Smith wrote.

It may seem a bit unorthodox to commit to a player with such a small sample size a month before the draft. Robinson was ranked as the No. 1 center in his recruiting class of 2017 back in high school. Unfortunately, his college career at Western Kentucky never came to fruition.

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However, it appears the Lakers have expressed some serious interest in the big man. Robinson had initially committed to participating in this year's NBA Combine before ultimately backing out at the last minute. That paired with the recent slew of mock drafts suggest that there could be some truth to the reports.

Robinson was highly-touted for his shot-blocking and ability to protect the rim. Needless to say, this is something the Lakers have been in dire need of for some time now.

Los Angeles already boasts a stable of young, dynamic scorers in forwards Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma. Adding some defense to the frontcourt would only further solidify their talented core.