My biggest takeaway so far this season watching these young Lakers (and boy has it been fun to watch them start to grow up before our eyes) is what a dynamic, great, young trio we have on our hands in Lonzo, Brandon, and Kuz.
I mean granted Ingram hasn’t been quite as good the last couple of games, but overall for the season he has just developed beautifully. Whether it’s his improved jump shot, the ability to get to the free throw line, finishing through contact after drawing it, showing he can be a #1 option at times, and just the overall assertiveness at times has been really impressive from this young player.
Then you look at Lonzo. He’s had his really good moments and his struggles. It’s no secret he was struggling mightily with his shot. I always thought it had more to do with a lack of confidence as well as poor shot selection moreso then the shot itself. That’s starting to show itself. Lonzo is taking more shots within the flow and rhythm of the offense. He’s been more...
So the point of this post is to determine where we are in terms of young talent around the league. What you do: pick the best prospects out of NBA players that are 23 years old or younger. This is an exercise I saw on Twitter (and it's been posted here somewhere at least once) and I think it's important to us as fans to really determine what the teams needs, strengths, and weaknesses are. So I'm going to jump right in. Feel free to comment on my list or create your own.
Tier 1 (MVP potential)
Giannis Antetokounmpo- Speaks for himself, but he's incredible.
Karl Anthony-Towns- He's taken somewhat of a step back defensively, but still amazing.
Joel Embiid- Health and mentality are going to be important, but talent is there.
Tier 2 (Multiple Time All-Star)
Kristaps Porzingis- He can do things that other players can't. Has a great approach.
Andrew Wiggins- Another guy who has apparently hit a ceiling, but great talent.
Watching this, he looked like a combination of Townes and Embiid. Hard to believe had he stayed healthy he would just be in the prime of his career now having turned 30 in October. So skilled.
I know the Lakers have just one pick in the draft and it's a 2nd rounder (from Denver), but I'm still going to start looking into the guys in this draft. Feel free to post any good draft content in this thread.
Early on this 2018 draft was considered as strong or maybe even stronger up top than the 2017 draft was. I was always skeptical, but now with Porter going down I'm convinced that's not true. Not to mention, what made (makes) the 2017 draft special was the depth of NBA talent. Not every player might be a star, but there's a lot of NBA players in that draft which isn't always the case.
First let's look at Marvin Bagley III. We have absolutely no chance at drafting him, but still good to get a feel for the draft. We're trying to keep up with the Joey, Jesse, and Ryan over here.
Marvin Bagley III-
6'11"
235 lbs
Pros-
Tremendous athlete. Watching him run at 6'11" (I think he's probably more like 6'10") is shocking. He's an incredibly fluid athlete for his size with...
