Ss&r: Why Karl-anthony Towns Is The Best Fit For The Lakers

My latest at silverscreenandroll.com. I still believe that the Lakers will end up with Okafor, and I think he's going to be a fantastic player, but if the Wolves take Jah the Lakers just may luck into Towns.

After a disastrous season the Los Angeles Lakers are sitting pretty with the 2nd overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. With the pick comes hope that the team will finally be able to right the ship and truly rebuild one of the great franchises in NBA history. It will allow them to draft a talented player to join a young team that already features promising players like First-team All-Rookie Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and Tarik Black, along with veterans Kobe Bryant and Nick Young.

While help is on the way, just who the Lakers select with their 2nd overall pick is still up for debate. There are a number of fantastic prospects available in this year's draft, but most experts agree that the top 3 consists of Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor, and D'Angelo Russell, although both Emanuel Mudiay and Kristaps Porzingis have a shot at sneaking onto the list.

It's widely believed that the Lakers will select a big with their pick, although Russell is certainly worthy of consideration. With the Minnesota Timberwolves very likely to take Towns with the first pick, Jahlil Okafor is the odds-on favorite to don a purple and gold hat on draft night.

Landing Okafor would be a major coup for the Lakers. He has won everywhere he has gone, has a post game that is incredibly advanced, and he wants to be a Laker.

These two quotes perfectly illustrate the difference between how Towns and Okafor view the Lakers:

"When I first thought about the NBA, I first thought about the Lakers. They have a winning tradition: 11 championships (in Los Angeles). That's what I want to be a part of.... I went to Whitney Young High School, which is one of the best high schools. I didn't want to go to any school but Duke: the best of the best. That's the same standard I'm holding myself to right now. Being here part of the Lakers (with) fans that want to win — that's what I want.

-Jahlil Okafor

Okafor can't realistically say much more to drive home the point that he sees himself as a Laker. On the other hand, here is Towns:

"I just want to play basketball, anywhere... It doesn't matter, I'll play anywhere in the league"

-Karl-Anthony Towns

Considering Towns and Okafor's consensus rankings as the top two players in the draft, it certainly sounds like Towns has made peace with going to the Minnesota, while Okafor has his heart set on being in Los Angeles.

Given the state of the franchise in recent years, it isn't a foregone conclusion that players will want to end up in a Lakers uniform, so hearing Okafor say he wants to be in Los Angeles is refreshing. It's nice to be wanted, even if you are a team with 16 championships hanging in the rafters.

At this point it feels as though Okafor ending up on the Lakers is almost a certainty, and that he is locked in on the Lakers and they are more than happy to bring him on board. But that's not the outcome that Lakers fans should be hoping for.

I've long maintained that the difference between Towns and Okafor is not as massive as some in the media portray it to be, and the same is true for the difference between Okafor and Russell. I believe that those three are essentially 1a, 1b, and 1c in this draft, with each offering a different set of skills as well as weaknesses. Lakers fans should be happy to land any of them, and be comfortable in knowing that the team has added a major piece for the future. That said, selecting Towns would be the best outcome for the Lakers.

YOU JUST DON'T SEE GUYS LIKE HIM, THAT ARE THAT BIG, THAT SKILLED, WORK THAT HARD, AND WANT TO BE GREAT-DON MACLEAN, TOWNS' TRAINER
To paraphrase the Joker, everyone loses their minds when things don't go according to plan. Bigs like Okafor aresupposed to dominate in the post, skilled guards like Russell are supposedto be good shooters and passers. When Towns starts hitting threes like a guard though, the internet nearly explodes, and with good reason.

Bigs who can do the things that Towns does just don't come along very often, if ever. Even though he might not be as determined to go to Los Angeles as Okafor is the Lakers would be fortunate to have Towns fall in their laps. He's got the ability to knock down shots all the way to the NBA three point line, but what's really impressive is that he does it effortlessly. Some bigs can shoot from range but it's obvious they aren't quite comfortable with it, it's just something they started adding to their game to be more en vogue with the NBA's push towards stretch bigs (think Jordan Hill). That's not Towns, his shot looks like he's barely trying because it's more of a set shot, like a right-handed Sam Perkins.

Towns' shooting ability also translates to a fantastic free throw percentage (81%), which is incredible for a big. His college percentage from the line would land him in the top 10 of current NBA bigs, alongside shooters like Dirk Nowitzki, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Kevin Love. With the modern trend toward hack-a-whoever, having a big man who is so effective from the line is a major advantage.

Shooting isn't the only part of his offensive game that's impressive either. Kentucky Coach John Calipari knew the biggest criticism of Towns was his ability to play in the post, and as a result forced him to play there for most of the college season and discouraged him from settling for the outside jumper.

Read the rest HERE! Draft day can't come soon enough!​

 

There's no doubt that Towns is a better fit. I'd still take Okafor though because I feel he is a superior talent, and I also feel that a big's ability to "stretch the floor" is overrated.

 

No his ability to 'stretch the floor' isn't overrated in the least; it also gives you more options offensively when you run various sets our of Horns, Pick in Rolls, etc; if Flip knew what he was doing as a coaching Karl and the corner 3 would become his new best friend in Minnesota.

That said, I'll say this until I'm blue in the face; Okafor is the better fit. Why? He wants to be here. He wants to carry our legacy of big men; he wants to be win an NBA championship. Give me that all day long.

 

I've gone over this before, so I'll just say this.... I agree that a big's ability to 'stretch the floor' is a valuable asset. However, it is not valuable enough to suddenly make Town's offense equal to Okafor. That's been argued before by the media, hence my reasoning that it is overrated.

 

The key with Towns is he could have both a post-game, an outside game, and the ability to play stellar defense. Of course he doesn't have the post-game Okafor does now; so, he'll need to work on it and he's at least 2 years away; if he's developed properly, he could be something special.

By the way, just because we have Okafor; I hope we utilize Okafor properly and don't think it's 1985 all over again...

 

Exactly my thought, and I prefer a big that bangs inside and fights for boards.

 

I think Towns would be better off playing the 4 quite honestly; at least for the first 2-3 years of his development. Pek, if not injured, could provide that security blanket at the 5. A big bruiser who could defend the paint, rebound, and bang inside while Towns can space the floor until he develops a better post-game and gains more weight in his butt and thighs as Calipari suggested.

The 1985 reference was referred to throwing the ball into the teeth and saying Kareem go to work; I don't think that would very successfully in today's league against quality competition.

 

Agreed, of course I'm biased, but I think that the Lakers will do a better job developing whichever player they get. That doesn't mean that the guy LA gets will be the best overall, just means that they will be better than they would have been had they gone to Minnesota. The Lakers just have a lot of experience developing bigs.

 

Gotcha. I'd preferred to use the post-up the way the Spurs killed Miami in the Finals.

 

Actually, the Spurs posted Duncan very little and as a secondary action off of their main, spread sets. If they just walk it up and dump it into him, they get toasted. What beat Miami was the spurs running secondary weak side actions and reversing the ball out of Miami's pick and roll blitzing. It was actually taking the spread, analytics based offense further, not regressing to old school stuff.

 

@RandleROFY I agree that Towns would work better as a 4, a la Dirk. And a dedicated rebounder like Chandler at 5 would be nice too.

 

Understood. You can throw the ball into the post occasionally, but I'm not going even remotely come close to putting that as a staple in any offense. There's much other easier, more efficient ways to utilize Okafor and keep the defense off-balance.