Sorry you got it wrong. Tatum is the better player right at this moment. Lonzo is the better prospect.
Yeah you’re right - I used the wrong terminology, I meant better player. Judging the potential of prospects is tough anyway.
We're going to be having these debates for years; and we're not going to know until 2-3 years down the line who the better choice is, but I get it's fun debating. Personally? I like Tatum more, but that's just my preference. Hoping Zo shows out as a Lakers fan, though; because if he's successful, then the team will be successful.
I’ll take Tatum over Zo. I think Tatum could join any team and succeed at a high level. I think Zo, because of his shortcomings, would only be as effective as Tatum on certain teams where he fits, like the Lakers. Lucky for us he fits what the Lakers do, but yea, it would have been wild to have Tatum, Kuzma and Hart from the same draft.
Absolutely, but I think Zo will be a good player. Just have to be patient with him. I think the Lakers FO likes him especially Magic; so, in that sense, they'll give him every tool he needs to be successful. I think the "Lebron" effect might have the biggest impact on Zo...
I think part of this being talked about/harped so much is, whether consciously or not, has to do with Tatum being a C bag. We can’t stand the idea of the C Bags even debatably getting a better player than us a pick later. You don’t really hear people whining anymore that we don’t have Booker or Porzingis because the Suns and Knicks are irrelevant and there’s also now injury concern with Porzingis’ frame. You don’t see people here going on and on about how we missed out on Donovan Mitchell, who clearly outplayed Tatum last year in the regular season AND playoffs and was the real ROY. I’d guess that’s because he’s a Utah Jazz, and the GM that took him I can’t even name, but the idea that Danny Ainge might have outfoxed us boils people’s blood. I get it, but I’m also still on team Lonzo, and perfectly happy to hate on Tatum, even irrationally if I have to, same as I do Smart and some of their other players, because of the name on the front of the jersey.
I know it's me against Lakers ball on this one but I'm not changing my opinion . Our scouting department has been nailing the late 20es picks for a while and I have a hard time believing they would have picked Ball at 2. This makes me think the management has more decision power on the lottery picks and its choice isn't only based on b-ball skills as it is for later picks . I'm probably wrong at Lonzo mainly being a Jeanie choice but I still think it wasn't only a b-ball choice from our management
In "LB's" defense that is different than ... ... plus Magic has always said the final decisions are his. And it is no leap to think he wanted Lonzo for the type of game he wants to play which would be a basketball decision.
I mean, Lonzo showed a lot of potential in high school and throughout his college career, I don't get where this whole argument of Tatum and Mitchell stems from. Of course, everyone's opinion (including Kobe's) is all hindsight, but Lonzo did well for himself, shot well, was healthy, took his team deep into the tournament. And his impact was quite apparent with how UCLA looked last year without him, completely different. I'm not saying that Tatum and Mitchell AREN'T better than Zo now, but to make that decision on draft day would require a bit more in depth scouting. I still feel that Zo has a more substantial impact on a team when he plays, where Tatum and Mitchell are scoring guards, something we've been used to in Kobe for the past 20 some odd years. We get our first taste of a true point guard and people tear him a new one expecting him to be the next Kobe or something, and what people are comparing Tatum and Mitchell too. That's what people need to get out of their heads. He's a point. He's what makes the wheels turn on the offense. It's completely a Magic pick, the fact that he's also from the Southern California area, played for UCLA, also played into it. It's the same reason we want players to come back to LA, because we want the hometown kid to grow and play with us. Guys like Mitchell and Tatum have the green light to score and weren't expected to facilitate the offense straight off the bat. Think about the pressure of coming into a team and completely changing the way the team plays. Our pace picked up, our offense became exciting again, we became competitive, and put together a strong enough season to draw the best player in the world to our team. He had all that weight on his shoulders, and it'll took a toll on his body and mind and I'm sure that affected his game through his first NBA season. Bringing in Lebron and Rondo will take a lot of that pressure off him. He'll be able to focus more on his game and body than he ever has. He'll be challenged by vets like he never has before and learn so much from these guys. He's already showed so many other facets to his game that are heads above those other guys such as his defense, rebounding, and IQ. His shot will come, his aggressiveness will come. We saw the same thing with BI his rookie year, it's all about growth for these guys.
I think ancillary reasons are why you pick Lonzo over Fultz or Jackson. Tatum was a big time player at a big time school. His name would have carried fine. The real reason we went with Lonzo is like LT said: he is a kid who plays like Magic and Magic is our decision maker. If Kobe were our decision maker, we'd have gone with Tatum or Jackson. We're not playing that type of basketball anymore though. We have three players on our team that can go off for 15 assists or more on any given night. That's not a coincidence.
I don't know anyone on this forum who is wanting Zo to be Kobe, we'd just like him to not shoot atrociously from everywhere on the court. Other than that he's been brilliant and I'm still not sure if I had the option I would pick Tatum over him as he's an excellent defender at the guard position.
Well all those sweet nothings LeBron said to him after that one game this year with his jersey covering his mouth indicate to me that LBJ really likes his game. So if he can get healthy and LBJ is "witness" every day in practice to an improved over last year, stronger and well playing Lonzo Ball .... that will go a long way toward his job security with the Lakers. If LBJ loves him they aren't moving him. All bets are off if LaVar The Insane manages to somehow push everyone over the edge with their tolerance level of him and f****s everything up in L.A. for Lonzo. It could happen. But LeBron would have to sign off first. Lonzo's career in Los Angele is his and his father's to lose.
Well, this forum tends to lean on the more rational side of things, so I'm not calling out anyone here. It's the fair weather fan that has that expectation for any body coming here, including Lebron. My personal opinion on his shot last year were attribute to a few things. The biggest being conditioning and strength. The games are longer, the season is longer, the defenders are more physical, the 3 point line is further out. Sure, some people adjust easier than others, pure shooters, more developed players like Kuz. Also, he had to "run the offense". As a rookie coming onto a team of vets, I would assume that there is a bit of pressure to come in and just be that guy who gets the wheels spinning. Does he be aggressive, does he take those quick open shots, it's a lot of processing that goes through your mind. The best Lonzo looked last year was when he looked like he didn't have to think as much, and just played within the flow of the game. He can improve on next year, with less pressure to be that guy, but also have the leadership of a Lebron to back up your decision making, and a bit of physical maturation and development.
She’s far too rational (especially in regard to a Laker here) for ESPN to be interested. Have you seen First Take lately? Stephen A has always been a little silly, but now he’s a straight up caricature. The way they portrayed him on SNL is closer to a real human being than how he acts now. He uses his squeaky voice like %75 of the time. This morning he was calling the Lakers stupid for not signing Melo, asking who was better that we got than him. Max said there are two sides of the ball to be considered and cited that as reasons for the Rondo, McGee, and Lance signings and Stephen A went off, eventually saying that a good offense beats a good defense in reference to Melo. I guess Stephen A hasn’t seen him play for a few years because he’s horribly inefficient offensively.
