Here's my latest on the Lakers and potential #2 pick Jahlil Okafor, who many fans (though not as many here at LB) seem to be overlooking due to the Towns hype. The NBA Draft is quickly approaching and two big men currently sit atop nearly every draft board: Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor. The two battled it out for draft position for much of the college season, with Okafor leading the way early and Towns coming on strong late. As of right now most experts believe that Towns will be taken by the Minnesota Timberwolveswith the first overall pick, leaving theLos Angeles Lakers to select Jahlil Okafor with the 2nd pick. The Lakers maintain they are hoping to audition as many as eight players aside from Towns and Okafor that they could select with the pick, including Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell, Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein, Duke's Justise Winslow, and foreign players Kristaps Porzingis and Mario Hezonja. Over the weekend they worked out athletic guard Emanuel Mudiay. Still, the consensus is that Okafor's size will mean more to the Lakers, who have a history of great big men, and they won't be able to turn down the opportunity to draft another potential powerhouse center. While the Lakers front office is in fact-finding mode, Lakers fans are still giddy from jumping from the fourth overall selection to the second via the lottery, and are anxiously anticipating the addition of a potential franchise-player. After a brutal season and a tense draft lottery where the Lakers had a 17 percent chance of losing their pick completely, the future is finally looking bright. Yet, in the midst of the all the positive vibes reverberating through Los Angeles, there is a small current of discontent disrupting the bliss like a single cloud on a sunny day: Nearly everyone expects Jahlil Okafor to land in the Lakers' lap, but most fans want Karl-Anthony Towns. Really, who can blame them? Towns and Okafor were seen as opposites for so long, with Towns the defensive monster and Okafor the offensive prodigy. As the college season went on Okafor's struggles on defense became more noticeable while Towns' offensive game took off, making him appear to be the more well-rounded player and clear top choice on most draft boards. "CLEARLY, AT THE TOP OF THE DRAFT THERE ARE TWO BIGS AND WE HAVE THE SECOND PICK"- MITCH KUPCHAK, HINTING AT WHO THE LAKERS WILL PICK It was well known that Towns had skills beyond what he showed at Kentucky, particularly a solid outside shot, but when video of a recent workout hit the web showing him effortlessly draining NBA threes, dribbling through his legs, and dunking like the rim insulted his mother .... well, everyone went a little crazy. Bigs aren't supposed to be able to do the things he can do. Off-the-dribble, step-back threes from a guy who is seven feet tall and a historically great defensive player at the college level? Ridiculous. Overnight, Towns went from being considered a fantastic prospect to the next Anthony Davis-level superstar. To top it all off, reports have been circulating for weeks that Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders disagrees with the vast majority of NBA pundits and prefers Okafor to Towns, leaving Lakers fans with a glimmer of hope that Towns -- who figures to be a perfect fit next to fellow Kentucky alum Julius Randle -- may actually be there when the Lakers are on the clock. However, the prevailing thought is that Saunders will eventually see the light and take Towns with the first pick, and that all the rumors of him preferring Okafor are nothing more than a smokescreen to throw teams off the scent. The Lakers will be left with Okafor by default (although D'Angelo Russell deserves a good look), and while fans will be happy to have him, there will be a reluctant pondering of what could have been if the Lakers had landed the first pick and been able to draft Towns. Fortunately for Lakers fans the narrative that Towns is head-and-shoulders better than Okafor is largely a matter of perception, and is being accepted as fact mostly because it's being parroted across multiple sports media platforms. While most would agree that Towns is a better fit for the Lakers (and Minnesota, for that matter), Okafor is an absolutely phenomenal player that is being done a disservice with how much he is being overlooked. According to some of the top "in-the-know" reporters in the game like Alex Kennedy from Basketball Insisders and Eric Pincus from the Los Angeles Times, executives league wide agree that the difference between Towns and Okafor is actually minuscule, in spite of the perception online that the gap is somehow a chasm. The argument has been made that the NBA game has shifted, and that under modern rules centers need to be mobile, efficient rim protectors whose offensive roles are reduced to spacing the floor and finishing lobs out of the pick-and-roll. Back-to-the basket centers like Okafor would be a relic of a bygone era in the current NBA, an ineffective throwback to the uncivilized days of Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Shaquille O'Neal. Please read the rest HERE!
Thank you for writing this. Okafor is a beast and if we walk away from two bad seasons with Okafor, Randle and Clarkson, we should be elated. How many franchises have gone through years of mediocrity only to have players like Kemba Walker available? If we were going to be really bad, we picked a great time to do it, and despite all the moaning and groaning around Lakerdom about our "horrible" luck, we may have 3 guys who can be starters on a championship level team.
To be fair we definitely had some horrible luck there... The kind of stuff Laker fans just aren't used to. The death of Dr. Buss, Howard, Howard leaving, Paul veto, Gasol traded then not traded then left for nothing, Kobe injuries, Xavier injuries, Metta World Peace falling off a cliff talent-wise, Nash injuries... It's been a rough couple of years. It's great though knowing that after all of that we could end up with 2-3 franchise talents in the draft. Clarkson, Randle, and Towns or (hopefully for me) Okafor. Not to mention hard working kids like Kelly, Black, and Brown. Black is a steal already I hope he's here for a while. What an amazing base to build around.
Buss dying wasn't really bad luck. I mean, he was 80 years old and lived a fast and hard lifestyle. All those other things were bad luck, but that bad luck is what gave us the ping pong balls to create this foundation. I wasn't really saying we didn't have some bad breaks as much as I was pointing out that other teams go through rough patches and don't have the options we have had in our drafts. I feel like the basketball gods have almost paid us back.
It was bad luck in terms of timing. We needed a leader because Kobe and Dwight weren't getting along. Our coach couldn't handle them. We needed a psych-up from our fearless leader and he passed away. The act itself was bound to happen some day, but the fact that it happened right then?... Painful days. You're right about other teams staying in this spot though. That's what makes us the Lakers! We don't rebuild very long. We make the right decisions and the right moves and we get back on top.
Trevor, wow! Beautifully written and a fun read. Meaty, no fluff stuff. You have a bright future in sports reporting / writing. Also, in punctuating what you know that you know from your own observations, with facts and numbers for reference, I enjoyed the "bull(bleep)" and "asinine" blasts at the lazy and/or bad observations that are out there.... calling it wrong with regard to Jahlil's potential greatness.
Great article. If you land Okafor as a consolation prize (not having the #1 pick), I'd say you're doing pretty good. He's been my unwavering top pick since before the first college game was played, but I never thought in a million years there was a chance he'd be a Laker. Due to the unfortunate events listed above we found ourselves in a rebuild, but it's gone better and progressed quicker than anyone could've hoped. We won't be contending for a ship next year, but with three great young pieces in Jah, JC, and Randle you'll be able to get your pick of the litter in free agency when the cap spikes. Those are attractive pieces to any superstar FA who doesn't play one of their positions. Then factor in we'll be adding some talent via free agency this summer, we're looking better and better. In three years time, we should be back at/near the top. That gives both bigs the typical 3 year window it typically takes bigs to grow into their bodies and mature their game to the NBA level + gives us three free agency periods to hit a few home runs. Back to Jah, his FT shooting is the only part of his game that concerns me and that's only because of the spike in hack-a-____. But he's a staple in the gym and if we can get Nash or someone to work with him, I think he can get it up to the high 60s. Won't be great at them, but good enough to prevent being hacked. TD wasn't a good FT shooter, either, coming out of college (not Okafor bad, but still a liability) but he was able to turn it around. Everything else -- the rebounding and D is being overblown. He won't win a DPOY and won't draw the Rodman comparisons Thompson gets every single Cavs game, but he'll be able to hold his own in 2-3 years time.
Nicely said. I think Jah can certainly work on a lot of parts of his game, but he's going to be great. FT shooting is my main concern, not even his defense. He needs to be somewhere above 68-69% to keep guys off of him. I'd also love to pick-up a veteran big man for that three year window you gave. I want a guy who will teach these kids some of the ropes of being a big man in the NBA for three years until they're ready to go out and crush guys, dynasty style.
@therealdeal agreed, I want one old vet there for Jah, Randle, and Black. We have a lot invested in them and a lot long term is riding on them and we have no mentorship for them on the roster. Yeah, there's Kobe, Scott, and Madsen to a degree. But it's different when that guy is a player and plays your position. Here is my list compiled of FAs, even if he's a 15th man: Chandler - he'd be the big get because he can still play and make a difference on D. Boozer - he was a pro about the role last year and seemed open to returning. The rest - Nazr, Scola, Hayes, Gooden, Brand. Some of that third tier don't have much basketball left in them, but would be a vital 15th man in mentoring those three in particular.
Thanks guys, I really enjoyed writing about Okafor, although Russell was a ton of fun too. I get the hype over Towns, his workout video was insane and he really turned it on in the second half of the college season. But I really think the gap between Towns, Okafor, and Russell is tiny, and that whichever of them works the hardest, is in the right system, and has a little luck will end up being the best player from this draft when the dust settles.
I would love Brand, but we didn't look his way last year at all. Chandler has been my guy all along on the mentor front. If Mitch could find a starting small forward AND Chandler this summer, I think that's a major win. Boozer was a cool dude throughout the season. I think his first instinct will be to sign elsewhere, but I'd take him back in the same role he had last season for sure.
I went from being so scared to be ecstatic on the lottery night. That night I felt the same as I do today, while I want Okafor, walking away on draft night with either him or Towns there really is no bad night.
Great article I dont care what they say about dangelo or mudiay or Winslow we have to take the big that minny doesnt take. With towns we'd have an all around big and with okafor we'll have one of the best offensive bigs in a while You take one of the bigs regardless Build around one of the bigs/randle clarkson and sign a big time FA
