What I don't love about the article particularly is the end conclusion where Bresnahan says if we start winning and fail to keep our lottery pick the season has been useless. What he fails to address is that if we lose our pick this year we get to keep our pick next year, which is an incredibly important point. If we keep this pick it is top 3 protected next year. So dumb to leave this point out in this discussion. In other words it's not the end of the world to lose this pick in a thin draft since that would mean we'd get to keep it next year in a potentially deeper one. Regardless, the bottom line seems to be his point number one - we're most likely going to end up at number 2 before the draft, have about a 20% shot for Simmons, and a little more than 50% chance to keep the pick. I don't see us tanking harder than the pros from Philly, and I don't see us leapfrogging NO or Brooklyn.
Yup. At this point, I feel like it's Ben Simmons or bust. Maybe it's because I don't follow the college basketball scene too closely, but I don't think anyone else has been really shining. We might have a better chance finding a future star next year than this year if we don't get Ben Simmons.
There are a few other potentially good picks. Ingram and Sabonis has caught my attention but I would think Lakers would trade the pick if it's not #1. It's essentially Ben Simmons or bust, he has the most star potential from the bunch (not a close second) and I don't think they want to be developing so many players at once. Trade the pick for a known talent.
Pretty much agree. Although I think if somehow Ingram fell to us at say #3, I'd consider keeping him. He's a 6'9" SF/SG with a good jump shot (7'3" Wingspan as well). If he gets properly acclimated to the NBA 3 point line, he could be a nightmare for teams to guard down the road. Plus, he wouldn't have to start right away, seeing as how he'd probably be behind Durant at the 3 for a few years anyways (just let me dream).
If the Lakers get simmons there's no way they trade him. So far he looks like a franchise player that you build around. You trade almost anyone else on the team
Maybe. But we now have more proven players to build around. If we traded DA, JC, or JR, I'd be pissed. Then again, there's at best a 1 in 5 chance of landing him. Bet against it.
Simmons is the one kid you get in this draft and don't trade, but the point is even if we get him we'll likely stink for a while. Not only is he a kid, but we already have four other kids on the team and only a handful of other okay players over 25 years old. Not only do they have to grow as people, but as players and grow into each other's games. Even if we drugged and kidnapped KD into coming here, we'd take a while to get going. Now instead of KD use Ben Simmons as your example. It'll be years before they mesh.
He's also on a cheap salary, which means that we can be big players in free agency in the next 2 years. We can still get a superstar even though we theoretically might have those 4 together. I wouldn't trade any of our young players though, I'd rather try to sign players through FA to add to the team.
Disagree. Yeah he may be a franchise player, but he can definitely help net a superstar. We already have three young kids on the team. Unless the Lakers are completely dedicated to a full on rebuild then I don't see them keeping that pick. You get a star and then all of a sudden you're enticing for someone like Durant in free agency or Westbrook next season.
I see where you are commin from, but i think you keep simmons and trade anyone else. At this point, I think we are in full rebuild. Also like mentioned above, those rookie contracts are cheap. You could build around this young talent.
We are in a full rebuild. I mean, we have 5 wins and 7 guys under the age of 25 on the roster. This isn't a "reload" or a "rebuild on the fly." This is a tear it down, jack hammer the foundation into rubble and pour a new foundation type rebuild. Unfortunately the foreman at the job site (Boron) is poking holes in all our support beams.
Don't expect a rebuild from the scratch if we have a chance at a superstar via a high pick or a youging . Jim has to be meet his deadline plus it's in the Lakers DNA to go for superstars ( not saying it's the right thing to do in all cases) Hopefully if it happened , it would be for a KD or a Westbrook and not for a Cousins type of player
You don't trade Simmons. And I agree with the thought that we are in a full rebuild. The bigger issue is that we are in a full rebuild with the worst leadership from top to bottom in the history of the franchise. Because of that we are a minimum of 2-3 years from being real contenders and that's if they don't screw this up by making a panic trade with one of our young guys. The entire league is well aware of the dumpster fire that is our front office. I'm not convinced Jeannie and Jim can put their differences aside long enough to get us the free agents we need to compete this summer. With that in mind, I'm okay with stockpiling young talent as long as we bring in a real coach to mold them into something.
How are we in a full rebuild? We're not even playing the young guys. That's not rebuilding. Jim is on a deadline. Do you really think he's gonna be willing to wait when he doesn't have that kind of time to save his job? No way. Simmons may end up being a great player, but Jim is gonna wanna bring in a guy who already is a great player who can attract other great players. After the way this season has gone I don't see him sticking with this young group of players.
