2015 Nba Draft Discussion: Russell, Nance Jr., Brown

No, rare there are literally almost no bigs that can do both ends of the court. Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol are probably the only ones currently. That's good company right there. Not saying Towns will be Davis, but I'm saying he's a two-way center that can prove to be very valuable.

 

Hmm.. nice stroke.

Spotted Mitch in the front center seat.

 

So all these front office not only polled who they would prefer, but made the information open for the public?

 

well, magic and kidd were quite large and both had preternatural court vision and instincts. i know people say that about russell, but those guys averaged 8-9apg in college, not 5-6. and nash and stockton were both incredible shooters. like historically good shooters.

that's not to say athleticism is the end-all be-all in pgs; chris paul is still quite awesome despite playing on busted knees. and the three guys that remind me most of russell (lillard, dwill, dragic) are all just decent athletes.

anyway, if lack of elite athleticism isn't a knock on russell, it should even less of a knock on okafor, who shouldn't have cover as much of the floor.

i realize it sounds like i'm trashing russell, but i'd be fine with the lakers taking him. i think he has a good shot at being an allstar guard. but i think okafor has an equal shot at being an allstar big.

 

My thought is why would any LAL front office member tell the truth right now? Even under the condition of anonymity, it's in the Lakers best interest if PHI thinks that Mitch is going to go Russell. This could very well be an attempt to get PHI to trade up.

Don't forget, Okafor worked out for MIN and LAL. That's it.

 

i read that. it was promising until it devolved into the "the game is fundamentally changed on account of the golden state warriors" stuff. i thought it was interesting to see that the post-up, while utilized less often, doesn't look to be on the verge of extinction, either league-wide or as a part of a big man's repertoire. i also liked that they highlight just how few shooting bigs have ever played in the nba, and (though they didn't mention it) how little it helped their teams.

 

Ah...not true. Duncan, Aldridge, Hortford, Cousins, to name a few more. Two-way players aren't rare at all when you take another step down the talent pool.

What makes Towns rare is his potential to defend and shoot. But his real shooting ability remains a mystery because he hasn't shot 3's in game since high school and refuses to work out with teams. And his mystery tactic is working. People see more and more potential in him each passing day.

 

If it is Russell I'm obviously fine with it, but judging by the workouts and such, its Okafor. While there has been tweets and articles saying we are going with Okafor most likely, you are seeing more and more how Russell could very well be the choice, how the FO really likes him, etc. Its the perfect time to try and throw these curveballs and see who you can fool. The Lakers have known who they would draft for days now, this late news is just trying to pull a fast one on some people.

 

Hey we're on the same boat. I prefer Okafor too. Just trying to make a case for Russell against Towns.

 

his other "sources" say mudiay is gaining momentum with the sixers at #3 and they like him more than russell. larry brown has said that the sixers are the only high picking team that hasn't contacted him about mudiay. and we also know that hinkie wants shooting at the pg spot.

this guy's sources are using him hard to put out smoke

 

yeah, i suppose the one thing we can say about him is that at least he doesn't have the same sources as everyone else.

that may not be a good thing, though...

 

"We have a trade. The Los Angeles Lakers trade the rights to the 2nd overall pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for the rights to the 3rd overall pick and the 35th overall pick. And with the 2nd overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select, D'Angelo Russell from the Ohio State University."

 

We can't exactly trade our pick though, we can select the player and then trade the player.

 

Which means nothing because Mitch already said it's his decision and his alone. He's mostly in accord with Jimmy, but Mitch will take who he wants. And LA telling them anything to tip their hand just over 24 hours from the draft is something only a newbie GM would do. If anything is getting leaked, there's good reason for it and its trickery.