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

Discussion in 'Lakers Discussion' started by LaVarBallsDad, Oct 14, 2014.

  1. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    PINCUS Has Vegas Oddsmakers Heavily Favoring Okafor at #2

     
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  2. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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    I think Okafor is still probably our pick but I'm not sure this is a smoke screen either. I think there is a vocal group on the staff that prefer Russell.
     
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  3. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    I'm off the Upshaw train completely. Everything I've heard is that he's not just an off-court risk, but an injury risk too with an existing heart condition. He checked out with a doctor, but how many red flags does a guy need? Even if we end up with Russell, I take either Justin Anderson or Rakeem Christmas. I like Rakeem I think he'll be an NBA rotation player. He's also defensive minded, athletic, albeit much smaller than Upshaw.
     
  4. lakerfan2

    lakerfan2 - Lakers All Star -

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    ^ That was pretty close to my weighted ranking.
     
  5. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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    Yep. He had a lot of that"it" factor from minute one. He was a clear leader as a freshman.
     
  6. Savory Griddles

    Savory Griddles Moderator Staff Member

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    Well, you know I love Anderson and if that was the pick, I'd be happy. I was one of the first here riding his jock. I think I'd rather take Dakari Johnson than Christmas at 34. Dakari might be late teen early 20s talent if he would have gone to UCLA or something instead of being buried behind Towns and WCS.
     
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  7. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    Yeah, I remember specifically we had one conversation in the game day thread when Clarkson went off in that game and had to get doubled; I told you trying doubling Clarkson if we had Russell...LOL!. I fell in-love with him and his game with he faced Indiana. You've seen him before then. Anyways, all this waiting is going to kill me today...
     
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  8. unpossibl1

    unpossibl1 - Rookie -

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    This is absolutely a factor. Tons of bigs available this summer, but hardly any guards.
     
  9. YoungThundercat

    YoungThundercat - Rookie -

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    I'm both with and against real on this new update. I've been riding shotgun with him on the Okafor train since day one...but

    I see what he doesn't in Russell. Kid has a Curry-like stroke (not saying he will shoot like Curry, cause, well, no one does outside of a 99 ovr created player on nba2k), the ease with which he gets a shot up is tempting.

    Also (and this may be sacreligous) but he reminds me of Nash. His court vision and his ability when penatrating to know when to go hard and when to pump the brakes and throw off the timing of the defense is masterful.

    I would be very excited to have him running point and allow Jordan to focus more on scoring as a 2.

    We honestly cannot screw up taking any of the top 3 guy. Just no Kristaps please!
     
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  10. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    Bye, bye, Wade. Unless Riley starts wildly maneuvering/moving contracts.
     
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  11. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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    Absolutely. He carried a team that didn't have another NBA caliber player.

    This is going to be a long day. Lol
     
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  12. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    You know what signaled it for me and the Lakers Front Office taking a liking to him. There was a photo where Russell had this big, big, grin giving answering questions to the media following his workout. Then, I see John Black just positively beaming with Russell after his workout. That's when it clicked, 'they really like him.'
     
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  13. Savory Griddles

    Savory Griddles Moderator Staff Member

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    Too bad Aldridge will suck up all our cap room. LMA + Wade would make us dangerous with a healthy Randle, Russell and Clarkson.
     
  14. shoe

    shoe - Rookie -

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    This work day has got to end ASAP! Nervous, excited, and anxious for this draft.

    Leaning towards Russell, but I trust Mitch chooses the right guy.
     
  15. 432J

    432J - Lakers All Star -

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    the thought of russell-clarkson-randle-gasol/monroe/aldridge is drool-worthy
     
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  16. tada

    tada - Lakers All Star -

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    I've always liked Russell too, but if we're passing on Okafor we MUST take advantage of the situation and call Philly/Knicks for assets.
     
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  17. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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    I think that having Randle and a legit shot to add a free agent big man is also making us look hard at Russell.
     
  18. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    I really, really, like Aldridge.
     
  19. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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    And as much as we all think of our history with big men, we had some "decent" guys playing guard for us too.
     
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  20. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    Agreed.
     

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