Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

If the draft were redone today, we'd have 3 of the top 10-15 picks and 2 of the top 5 picks. Think about that for a second and think about what that means for our future. All hate for him aside, Lonzo has been incredibly impressive for a rookie point guard. The only knock against him at this point that holds legitimate water to me is his FT%. Everything else, including his FG% and 3PT%, has shown enough improvement that I feel 100% comfortable with his future efficiency.

Redraft the 2017 draft and it looks most likely like this:

1) Tatum- Extremely talented young man in a good position on a good team. He's getting a little over-hyped, but he's rock solid.
2) Ball- Still shown flashes of just premiere talent. I still think he's a transformational player once he gets comfortable and starts dictating pace more.
3) Mitchell- He's had more asked of him than any other rookie and he's excelled in his position. I never saw this coming.
4) Kuzma- Easily the most capable scorer in this class which is saying something. I keep waiting for his efficiency to falter. Still waiting.
5) Smith Jr.- Didn't love his attitude in college, but Dallas couldn't be more perfect for him. In and out of the lineup, but has shown good potential.
6) Markannen- I wasn't sure he'd do enough as a pro besides shoot, but he's shown a good all-around game. Underrated pick.
7) Fultz- Sliding way down the list as he's got no actual record to stand on. Talent is there... Waiting to be wowed now, but looks superfluous with that team.
8) Fox- Not terribly impressive, but put in an awful situation. Good attitude and athleticism keeps him up here for now.
9) Bell- Everyone's favorite swoon right now. I don't think he's all that talented honestly, but a solid role player in that system.
10) Hart- He's been rock solid. Already an above average defender, he's a jumpshot away from being in the league for 12 years.

Honestly Hart has been at least as, if not more, impressive (especially as a starter) than either one of the Collins, Monk, Kennard, Josh Jackson (who is shooting basically as bad as Lonzo at this point), Jonathan Isaac, and just about anybody else I forgot to list. Someone else might prefer the potential of a Collins or Isaac or Jackson over Hart, but I certainly would take Hart over Monk or Kennard right now. That's not even to mention Thomas Bryant who has logged 4 minutes as a pro, but has some role player potential as well.

This is the kind of draft that changes a team's future. Not only are all these kids talented, NBA-caliber players, but they've got good heads on their shoulders and look fully capable of improving even beyond where they are now. I know the last few games have been rough and now with Lonzo and Ingram sitting, this team has become difficult to watch, but keep this in mind and remember acquiring talent in the NBA is extremely difficult. We're already half-way through our rebuild just based on the talent we've got. All we need now is a leader or two to help our young kids find their way forward.

 

I think you might actually have Fox too high. He’s got basically the bad shooting of Ball, but with half the assists and boards (and the playmaking/vision), and Lonzo even has better defensive stats. I’m freakin thrilled we didn’t trade down to like 5th to take him, he looks solid, but possibly a career backup PG at this point. I don’t see the Kings situation as much worse than ours, we both play a lot of rookies, and Lonzo’s impact is bigger.

 

I don't either. I threw him in where we would if the draft were today. Knowing what teams know now about his weird injury, he'd slide down the draft the same way that Embiid did. I think he's still got a shot to be something, but if he draft were redone, he wouldn't go before a lot of these guys.

 

Oh I think the Kings are way worse off than us. Their guys aren't as talented as ours and they're not a destination team. They're in a rough way.

 

Well screw those guys honestly. If they thought things would be any different there, that's on them. They chose this life just a few months ago.

 

I'm putting this here because I think getting past this crap is important to the success not just of the team this year, but of these players moving forward. Playing poorly and losing games isn't getting anyone a bigger paycheck. Figure it out and play hard. You don't have to love it here, you don't have to like your teammates, but there's zero incentive in playing poorly for anybody.

Hopefully Rob was in this meeting so Julius and Clarkson could say to his face what they think of how the summer plan affects them.