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

In an ideal world we grab a Top 5 pick, Randle heals, up and the off-season sees us get another good guard option. I've run through the scenarios and my favorite right now is getting Stanley Johnson.

1. Draft Stan Johnson (3.3 million). With Kobe, Randle, Nick, and Kelly that's 35 million. Cap Holds make it 39 million and give us roughly 27 million to spend.
2. Draft RJ Hunter, Hollis-Jefferson, or Tyron Wallace (1 million). Now that's 36 million and Cap Holds make it 27 million.
3. Sign Goran Dragic 4/48 million. It'd start at less than 12, but let's use that. Leaves us with 15.5 million.
4. Sign Robin Lopez 3/18 million. Make it six flat a year. Shouldn't be any more expensive than that. Leaves us with 10 million.
5. Sign Ed Davis to 4/20 million. Make it five flat. More than fair I think for him. Leaves us with 5.5 million.
6. Give Clarkson the Kelly deal- 2/3.37 million. First year starts at 1.65 million. Leaves us with 4.35 million.
7. If Lin is willing to come off the bench, give him a 3/12 million dollar deal. If not, use the rest of the money to bring back guys like Ellington, Wes, and Sacre. There's enough money left to also play with some of those contracts if need be to smooth things over. Roster next season:

Dragic/Lin/Clarkson
Kobe/Ellington
Johnson/Young/Hollis-Jefferson
Randle/Kelly
Lopez/Davis

Fill the rest in with minimum deals like we've done the last few years. I dig it. Still too young, still growing, but I dig it a lot.

 

Johnson is still raw too, but the kid has a great NBA body. Solid muscle and he's in the 240 range. Good length. Not a great athlete, but an NBA athlete. A lot of room to grow, but reminds me of Artest almost immediately and in the right place I think he could end up with Butler type growth.

 

Reverse Standings:

1. Knicks 7-36
2. Wolves 7-34
3. Sixers 8-34
4. Lakers 12-31
5. C Bags 13-26
6. Jazz 14-28
7. Magic 15-30
8. Pacers 15-29
9. Kings 16-26
10. Pistons 17-26

Of the teams in the bottom five we're by far the coldest. The Knicks have won two in a row. The Sixers are 4-6 in their last 10 games. The Wolves are 2-8 in their last ten, but are only on a two game losing streak. We are 2-8 in our last 10 games and we've got 6 losses in a row. Kobe is hurt now so he'll take even more time off. I still don't know if we could catch up to any of those bottom three, but I still think our grip on the 4th spot is pretty strong.

 

You're both right. The thing is with Kobe out more or less the rest of the year our roster is as bad as any of theirs. All it takes is some mojo from one of those squads and we'll drop a spot.

Bottom four is "good", but bottom three is "great".

With a bottom four record we get an 82.8% chance at a Top 5 pick.
With a bottom three record we get a 96% chance at a Top 5 pick.

With a bottom two record we get a 100% chance at a Top 5 pick.
With the worst record in the NBA we get a 100% chance at a Top 4 pick.

 

Wow I knew LA was out for Portland but did not think C Bags would win @POR. Great news for us!!!

 

No problemo.

Honestly as much as I hate tanking/having to tank for our pick I think it's the only story-line left with this season that I care about. We're not in a position to trade for big talent. Most of our players won't be here the next two years... That pick is the only reason left to keep track of the Lakers' season.

Ordinarily I'm as against tanking as you can be, but since our pick is so heavily protected we need to do it. Necessary evils and whatnot.

 

I'm not feeling well so I am at home. I saw DraftExpress's New Top 100 Rankings so I decided to look closer at the prospects again. I've got to say I'm not all that high on Russell still even after closer inspection. He doesn't have top shelf athleticism, his decision making still needs work, and his work ethic isn't great. He still takes plays off and I'm not sure I'm seeing a kid with enough talent to off-set lack of focus. I don't see James Harden out there.

After closer inspection my rankings are a little different though:
1. Okafor. Easily the best player in the draft at this point.
2. Towns. A little raw, but you can't teach size and athleticism. Already a good shooter/passer/defender.
3. Johnson. Has the look, has the talent, and he has the tools. Going to be a winner in this draft.
4. Mudiay. Great, great talent, but he needs more work than people realize.
5. Russell. Focus isn't always there. Effort isn't always there. Definitely a lot of talent, but is the athleticism on par?
6. Cauley-Stein. Could be Tyson Chandler, but is he all there mentally?
7. Oubre. Definitely showing good improvement. At least capable of being an immediate help offensively in the NBA. Needs development as All-Around player.

 

Keeping track of the "competition" a bit:

Knicks (7-36) next 10 games: Magic, @Hornets, Kings, Thunder, @Pacers, Lakers, C Bags, @Nets, Warriors, @Heat
Wolves (7-34) next 10 games: Pelicans, @Hawks, @Thunder, C Bags, @Sixers, Cavaliers, @Mavericks, Heat, Grizzlies
Sixers (8-34) next 9 games: Raptors, @Grizzlies, @Pelicans, Pistons, Wolves, @Hawks, @Cavaliers, Nuggets, @C Bags
Lakers (12-31) next 9 games: @Spurs, Rockets, Wizards, Bulls, @Knicks, @Bucks, @ Magic, @Cavaliers, Nuggets

I could see the Knicks moving "down" the rankings because I think the Sixers, Wolves, and Lakers could lose every single one of those next 9-10 games.