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

I'm wondering if we may be trying to figure out who Orlando wants at 27 to maybe package that and even Tarik Black to pull off a sign and trade for Tobias Harris. He will receive a max offer this offseason with the cap jump coming. If Orlando knows they won't match (which I wouldn't blame them with potentially Aaron Gordon and WCS playing the 3 and 4 for them in the future), Black plus Rashad Vaughn (our 27th pick)...throw in 3 million cash, that's a decent haul for Orlando for a player they may be letting walk for nothing. If I'm the Lakers and Harris wants to come here, I go to Orlando and offer Black, who we take at 27 and cash for a sign and trade to get us our sf of the future. I think the security of knowing he's ours is worth giving them up prematurely rather than waiting with your fingers crossed for 3 days. Okafor/Randle/Harris is probably the most promising young frontcourt in the league. Clarkson can play either guard spot...if I'm the rest of the league, I'd be pissed the Lakers turned two bad seasons into a young nucleus that could win for years. We'd also still have 10 million to fill out the roster. 10 million might be enough for us to resign Lin and Davis. Davis at 6 and Lin at 4?

We could potentially have

Okafor/Davis
Randle/Davis
Harris/Swaggy
?/Swaggy
Clarkson/Lin

going into the 2016 offseason and over 40 million in cap space to chase free agents (assuming we have to sign Clarkson to 5 million under the Arenas Provision).

 

Great minds...

 

"I don't know that I should go #1" = code for "I want to go to the Lakers."

 

Haha. Seriously. Minnesota or LA? Tough call.

 

Good insight, but damn dude copped out when they asked him who he'd take.

 

Been looking at a bunch of draft sites to see mocks. Here's what I've found so far...

#2 Pick: Okafor
Consensus: Okafor 12/13
Consensus Position: BIG 13/13
-Okafor was the consensus pick, and big was the consensus (indeed unanimous) position.

Taking Okafor makes us look like this right off the bat:
Clarkson/
Kobe/
Young/
Randle/Kelly
Okafor/

#27 Pick: WING or PG
Terry Rozier, PG, Louisville
Terry Rozier, PG, Louisville
Delon Wright, PG, Utah
Delon Wright, PG, Utah

Pat Connaughton, SG, UND
Rashad Vaughn, SG, UNLV
Justin Anderson, SF, Virginia
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, SF, Arizona
Jordan Mickey, SF, LSU

Jarell Martin, PF, LSU
Jarell Martin, PF, LSU
Mouhammadou Jaiteh, F/C, France

Consensus: Wright (PG), Rozier (PG), or Martin (PF)
Consensus Position: Wing 5/12
-I'm not excited about the players showing up most often. I could live with Delon Wright, but I'd prefer to see us take a wing if there's a good one available or Robert Upshaw.

Clarkson/Delon Wright
Kobe/
Young/
Randle/Kelly
Okafor/

OR

Clarkson/
Kobe/
Young/WING (RHJ?)
Randle/Kelly
Okafor/

OR

Clarkson/
Kobe/
Young/
Randle/Kelly
Okafor/Upshaw


#34 Pick: Wide Open
Rakeem Christmas, PF/C, Syracuse
Jarell Martin, PF, LSU
Dakari Johnson, C, Kentucky
Olivier Hanlan, PG/SG, BC
Jordan Mickey, PF, LSU
Christian Wood, PF, UNLV
Consensus: Mickey 2/6
Consensus Position: PF 4/6
-People have us taking a big here, and I suppose we might. If we didn't grab Upshaw previously and he's available, we need to grab him here. Otherwise, we have these three scenarios going.

Scenario A
Clarkson/Delon Wright
Kobe/
Young/
Randle/(Holmes)/Kelly
Okafor/
--We could add a wing here or Richaun Holmes. Neither addition would make much difference in terms of our FA plans. Wing or Love, even if we're loading up at PF.

OR

Scenario B
Clarkson/
Kobe/(Fuzaro/Luwawu)
Young/WING (RHJ)
Randle/Kelly
Okafor/
--Here we can afford to take a Guard or a Big. I'd be okay with Timothe Luwawu or Danilo Fuzaro from what I've read on them, and I'm still a fan of Holmes if we go that way.

OR

Clarkson/
Kobe/(Luwawu)
Young/
Randle/Kelly
Okafor/Upshaw
--In this scenario, it should be a guard or wing - and I like Timothe Luwawu for defense, but I'll throw out another name - Pat Connaughton - for shooting.

Now, my favorite scenario is the last one.
Clarkson/
Kobe/(Luwawu/Connaughton)
Young/
Randle/Kelly
Okafor/Upshaw

 

This dude seems not to be a basketball player. A great athlete though.

 

Yo t- we've actually got Black and Brown under contract as well.

Our default setting right now is:

Clarkson/
Bryant/Brown
Young
Randle/Kelly
Black

If we do the unlikely and keep all three picks, I'm hoping for:

#2- Okafor
#27- Delon Wright
#34- Christmas or D. Johnson

I know Wright is a PG, but I think it's crazy he's so low at DE. He's far from perfect, but if we get him that late in the draft, we end winning this draft in a landslide. Then at the end we need our end-of-the-bench big man replacement. There's always big goons left in the 2nd round and that's where I love to go shopping for big men. Christmas isn't a big man, but he's really athletic and I think he be a Thomas Robinson type of guy in a year or two. Barring that there's the obvious Dakari Johnson who was a highly touted high school recruit. He's 7 feet tall, got a wide body, and is basically a perfect 3rd big rotation guy in the NBA.

I doubt we're keeping all three players though. I think we're probably moving the last two attached to either Hill or Young in order to bring in some veteran players.