Just ignoring the composition of the team, pay, and everything else.... Hypothetically say the others were traded away, and it doesn't matter for what in this discussion... If we could only keep one player this summer, who would it be, and why? After looking back on the season, and thinking long and hard about it... I think Id have to pic Kuzma. I just think he has everything I want in a great player with no real weaknesses in his mental makeup, or game. He does everything pretty well as a rookie, and I am constantly hearing him striving for greatness and producing. I think he's going to be a superstar eventually just from work ethic and mental makeup alone. Which player is your untouchable player?
When its tough to answer it usually means its a great question... I'll have to get back to you, this is tough
Ingram. He has the tools to be a great two way player. He's a little too quiet but he has the mindset and work ethic to make it happen. We've seen him take huge strides from rookie to sophomore season. We've seen him be PG and off-ball shooter. Kuzma is a close second for me, he has a bit of the Mamba attitude that works so well with this city and what we're used to. Tough choice but I'm leaning towards Ingram for length and two-way ability.
I don't think you can give up the other talent to choose Lonzo unequivocally at this time .... since you can't afford to gamble on this with the importance of the decision. How can you gamble that he will become a good to great shooter because Kuz and BI are going to be IMO and contribute in their own special ways. But I'm with TIME. Question is uncomfortable and just too early. How do you predict ceilings or put ceilings on these guys at their ages now without at least seeing who comes back with the best bodies and step up in their game over the summer and then pre-season games. At that point a better indication at least. But still I predict even more you're not going to want to lose any of them. Magic and Rob are challenging these guys to be GREAT and like Julius stepped up with the conditioned body because with these guys it's going to be great and informative for evaluation to see what they got done and what these new and improved versions of them look like.
The only reason I would keep Lonzo over all the others is that in a scenario that Randle, Ingram, and Kuz are going out, we are for sure getting Kawhi and Lebron and PG13 coming in. In that case, Lonzo would be the best fit and would move the ball to those three who would dominate the scoring.
I'd keep Lonzo. Ingram is the better player but Lonzo is more important. Similar to GSW with Curry and Durant.
Lonzo. He's the most talented, the most natural player on our team, and the only one who has shown statistically and on the court that he's got HOF capabilities if he keeps working towards it (Jason Kidd-esque). Ingram is an extremely close second. Kuzma is a very close third. Randle is a very close fourth. This is a tough question.
There are some guys you'd pay to watch play even if the team sucked. I think Kuzma is one of those guys.
Taking age, off the court intangibles/distractions (ie overbearing parents, girls, kids, etc) and areas to work on, the choice for me is easy with BI. Get that body right and with it will come better jump shooting / FTs / defensive slides and gain a voice to lead with and the skies the limit for the kid!
I think that it says something about the talent we’ve assembled that we as fans have such diverse opinions about which player to keep.
Randle. His level of physical dominance is very difficult to find in the open market. He's still only 23 years old, and will be even better when he reaches his prime.
Difficult question... I leaned towards Kuzma at first BUT as a fan I value two way wings. Ingram. Can facilitate, defend, selfless and adds scoring as well.
My gut instinct was Lonzo. I might be in the minority but I think he eventually finds his shot and becomes a dangerous scoring threat in addition to an elite facilitator. But Ingram is probably closer to putting it all together and being an elite two-way player. Kuzma has the mamba mentality and an impressive feel for scoring. I think he’ll be great. But I need to see what he does in year 2 before elevating him above Lonzo/BI. What kind of work does he put in over the summer and what can he add to his game to take the next step now that he’s on the map and defenses will prepare for him? I love Julius but he’s the one I didn’t consider for this vote. At his best, I still think he’s a complimentary piece while the other 3 can be go-to guys. But that’s nothing against Randle. I’m still very high on him. Now that his bully ball game has slowed down for him and he can physically impose himself to get what he wants, if he develops a consistent jumper he’ll be scary.
