i have always liked jack so it would to me seem to be like when we acquired harper...big question marks...potential personality conflict....but big veteran leadership and upside capability if he wants to commit to a new start. Then again...jr rider was a different story. There was a DUI in Jack's past..wonder if there is an issue no one talks about with him..hope not.
Everything I've ever heard about Jack is that he's a good teammate and locker room presence. I think he's just had some bad luck and is in an area as a player where he's too good to be your 9th or 10th best player, but not quite good enough to be your 6th or 7th best player. He's always had just a little bit too much expected of him. I'd like that pick up. Jack backing up Clarkson? Nice....
Who says we're getting Okafor or Towns? Who says we're even keeping our pick? Do you all know something I don't?
You don't pop champagne for a #2 pick for nothing when the top 2 players projected are Okafor and Towns. With the emergence of Clarkson at guard, and a DESPERATE need for a franchise center, it makes sense that the Lakers would go after one of those two. Trading the pick would likely mean taking on salary, which is completely counter-intuitive when you can get a star player on a rookie scale contract AND STILL have cap space to spend on free agents. Unless you can think of any other reasons why we should be drafting another guard, or a middle of the pack forward.
Kobe really seemed to calm down a lot last season. He tore into the guys a few times but for the most part he kept his cool & understood that it was a throwaway season. I think for Okafor or Towns to get to know the real Kobe, we'd have to be in the hunt again. The competitive fire is what brings out the Mamba that won't accept anything less than the absolute best from his teammates & will push them to the limit regardless of how they feel about it. I hope our Rook (& Randle/JC) get to meet the real Kobe very soon & we can answer this question. As for how they'll mesh on the court, I think Kobe's track record when he has an extremely talented big next to him speaks for itself. It was painful watching him go into facilitator mode last season with our patchwork frontcourt. Okafor's post game could bring shades of the inside-out game we saw with the Diesel, Towns could bring shades of the 2 man game with Pau with his ability to pick & pop or roll. Should be a treat to spectate either way.
Wow, as impressive as his hands are, look at the 19 year old's freaking legs up close. He may not even be done growing yet. What a stud. 4 - 6 years still from his mature big man physique. I want him on our team, not the other team.
No. I don't know anything more than anyone else. We could go bats*** like Henkie with Phily and trade the pick for a bag of junk. But I think the Lakers are smarter than that....history tells me so.
Dudley and abbott told me that towns and okafor have pulled their names out of the draft due to the chance of playing with kobe. also: kobe eats puppies.
So much of this is speculative until we see how Kobe has modified his game for next season (which he has indicated he intends to do) to account for his age and injuries.
