Definitely prefer Anderson. He's one of most well rounded wings in the draft. Solid on both ends of the floor.
Wait does that mean Devin Booker has a greater chance than Okafor? The ESPN hate machine continues... Yikes!
So in the last 24 hours all these reports of Cousins, Love and LMA to LA. You'd think a team holding Randle and slated to draft Okafor wouldn't be in these discussions right? I have 2 thoughts: 1. It's all just leverage tactics from these players and their camps to get deals they want elsewhere. 2. The rumors are true, and we're drafting D'Angelo Russell.
No idea how they calculate it, but according to them, Okafor has a higher chance to be a "solid starter" than most while his "star" potential is low.
If we are trying to immediately get relevant again then we sign LMA (If possible), draft Okafor and trade Randle for a point guard that has a pass first mentality. That would seem to give us a balance of young and experienced as well as put a fairly balanced team on the floor. If we are building piece by piece with no immediate timeline then we take Okafor, keep Randle and our picks later in the draft. This seems like a long shot to me based on how management has acted in the last 4 years however.
You need to be with a team for 3 seasons to get the kind of Bird Rights needed to give those extra years/dollar amounts. Full Bird Rights refers not only to the right to a 5th year, but better raises PER year. A FA signing elsewhere only gets 4.5% more a year tops on their deals. A Bird Rights FA gets up to 7.5% raises per year.
full bird rights only happen after three years with the team or on the same contract. early bird happens after 2. early bird only allows for a 150 (175)% raise if you're over the cap, i think, whereas full bird basically gives the option of a raise up to the max over the cap. and i think only full bird allows for the 5-year extension. i'd have to brush up to be certain, but i'm close. edit: realdeal beat me to it.
complete guess based on the need for clicks, eyeballs and ratings. No one truly knows how a player will play in the NBA. Of the 3 major sports it is by far the biggest jump in terms of talent, speed and intensity. The history of the draft is proof of that. "Can't miss" prospects often miss. Sometimes badly.
according to the same algorithm, i think russell also has the highest bust potential, and it's greater than the star potential, iirc.
Which picks? If you want to have a balanced team you need veterans somewhere. Randle is redundant with Okafor and LMA so you move him for a PG which is sorely needed and hard to find. The later pick brings with it cap considerations that could constrain the immediate route while being a higher risk pick. Okafor and Clarkson with Kobe, LMA and a veteran PG would be a good balanced starting 5. 2 Vets with playoff experience and 2 younger guys on their way up.
Well the #2 pick certainly, I don't think we keep the #27 and probably not the #34 either. Randle brings something completely different from both Aldridge and Okafor. I don't think there's any reason to trade him to bring in a veteran point guard. There's other avenues to go get a veteran PG including trading those later picks in the draft.
I get that the fans love Randle because we picked him but he's had 14 minutes in the league. He's a huge question mark in reality. Nobody knows what he will bring. Trading him now if we could get a guy like LMA to play the PF for a top flight PG is a much better path to immediate contention rather than having another rookie (essentially) that needs minutes. Keep in mind that this was my "immediate" scenario. I have my reservations personally about Randle. He looks like a guy that could be between positions and may have a hard time scoring consistently at this level.
I would definitely prefer trading Randle, but I think the #2 has so much more value that it makes more sense to shop. It got us in discussion for Cousins, I'd see if we can get a similar level star that also has some baggage. With West looking for a long term deal & Hibbert 1 year from being gone, maybe Bird decides to blow it up for Okafor & sends us Paul George & the #11. We'd probably include #27. Adding PG makes us much more appealing to a guy like LMA. We roll out a starting 5 of Clarkson - Kobe - PG - Randle - LMA.
