2015 Nba Draft Discussion: Russell, Nance Jr., Brown

I would not at all be surprised if we traded the pick. Randle and Clarkson are the draftees of the future.

That being said, it all just depends. If we get the pick it's just more ammo in the rebuild machine. If we find a trade we like (Cousins), great. If we don't, great we have a cost controlled potential NBA starter for four years.

 

Nope. Keep Clarkson and Okafor and go after Westbrook when he becomes available. I like the guy's fire, but he's 26 or something with 3 knee injuries already. Clarkson and Okafor are a base to build around. Build around it.

 

The "cost controlled" part is big. It's not just that you add a really nice young piece to the puzzle, it's that it leaves sooo much more room to add others compared to the salary of a Love for instance.

Also, on a pure fan level, I've put so much interest this year into who we might draft that I'm already attached to our draft pick no matter who it is.

 

I'm with you. I think there's some argument for trading the pick, but you'd really have to knock my socks off to do it. A chance to AT LEAST fill out the roster with an NBA talent, with presumably high upside, and we have him for four years on a cheap deal? I'm very interested.

If we keep the pick we still have more than enough room for a max contract so I'm fine with keeping it too. Building through the draft was something most fans didn't believe we could do, but if we get that pick I think we've already done it.

 

No, just no. Plus there's no way to make the salaries work.

 

I would NOT trade anything for Rose. He is incapable of staying healthy. I've proven repeatedly that his body is not built for the way he insists on playing. He will continue to have knee problems until he calls it an early career. I would NEVER trade for Rose.

If he wanted to sign here after the Bulls inevitably ask him to retire, I'd consider it for the mini-MLE (about 3 million) as a back-up. Two years, second year team option. That's about it.

 

Yeah it's pretty amazing actually. To get three legit NBA rotation players from the draft in 2 years is almost impossible, and Mitch MAY end up with 4 (Randle + Clarkson + 4th + Houston pick).

 

Yep. Okafor is going to be good. Will he be great? Remains to be seen. Keep in mind, if we go after Westbrook, it's essentially West, Kobe and Randle. We wouldn't have the money to go after Love like some are suggesting. Just Kelly, Kobe, Westbrook, Black, Young, and Randle alone are 52 million. The cap holds for the other 5 spots would bring it up to 54.5. Love would have to take a significant paycut to come here and play for us. And the team would have zero bench.

 

It's really a testament to how great a job he and Jim and the scouting department can do when they're on the same page. I mean damn. We missed the playoffs for two years to get here, but what a fantastic job these guys did of finding talent.

Randle, Clarkson, Kelly, Jabari Brown, Ed Davis, Tarik Black, Wayne Ellington, Nick Young that first year, even Jodie Meeks was a decent find. Trading for Lin and another pick. Let's say we can't bring back Ed.

Clarkson/______
_______/ Brown
Winslow?/Young/ Hollis-Jefferson?
Randle/Kelly
______/Black

All of those guys for under 17 million and they're all young guys (except Nick) with a capacity for great growth. Incredible! We've got an entire bench and a few starters locked up and we've still got over 20 million to spend this summer and next summer even more.

Honestly I think with a team like this, we might not even spend much this summer if we get all the picks right. If we get that high level 2nd rounder, the Houston first, AND our Top 5 pick?... It's an embarrassment of riches with the Lakers FO.

 

I think if we land Towns or Okafor, it will be about throwing money at guys like Middleton as opposed to max guys like Monroe and Love. If we end up with one of the sfs or guards, I think we will go after Monroe. Really hoping for one of the bigs though.

 

Completely agreed and I love that attitude.

Draft a guard/wing (Russell, Mudiay, Winslow, Johnson), sign a big (Monroe, Jordan)

Draft a big (Okafor, Towns), sign a wing (Middleton, Leonard, Matthews?)

That's the ticket. Rebuild and when the dust clears we have a great young team regardless of whether or not Durant or Westbrook wants to be here in a year.