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

When you're a lowly 19 year old kid who hasn't played one second in the NBA, you don't put Mitch in this situation...

the others we've considered with the #2 dropped everything and probably camped outside the gym like they were waiting for a star wars premiere. If I read a story on how Jah had a tent outside the gym the night before, it wouldn't have surprised me. We were the first team to see them too. Meanwhile Towns has hosted Flip in Cali and he and his dad are heading to Minny. He cares way to much about the label of being #1. Does he know that MJ, Kobe, Dr J, Nash, Stockton, Karl Malone, Reggie, Dirk, Bird, M. Malone, Barkley, Pip, KG, Wade, McHale, Penny, Hill, Bill Russell, West, Isiah Thomas, GP, Kidd, Zo, Deke, Melo, and CP3 (and others) have in common? They weren't drafted number f***ing one!

Shows a lot about where his priorities are. If he's there at #2, I move him and the pick quicker than he can call to apologize. I had to look up who his agent was, thinking it had to be am unknown nobody to play this type of game. No, it's Leon Rose. He reps AI, Melo, and CP3. If it's not him, then it's his family (dad?) and inner circle. Even worse. You can fire your agent. Can't fire family.

 

EPIC JSM!

 

Obviously wouldn't mind if we got value back. Usually you don't get more than cash for a late first rounder though.

Btw only two years are guaranteed for a rookie contract and the other two years are team options.

I don't agree we are too young. We are rebuilding and we should be accumulating as much young talent as we can to see who pans out. If we think Kobe is going to come back this year for 82 games and playoffs for the first time in three years and lead us to one final championship, we are dreaming. I think we can be competitive this year with the right draft and free agent signings, but we should be planning for the next 6 or 8 years now, more so than just this year.

The 430,000 in cap space for a young talent is a good use. While free agency is one use of cap space, it isn't the only good use of it. We've seen that we can't always find good ways of spending the space in free agency. We have been lacking in talent for a couple years now and should be using any means we can to start acquiring assets, be it through FA, draft, or trades. Whether it's one rookie, or two or three, talent is talent and we need more of it. And as far as the 430k goes, if we come up that amount short of a max contract offer, I got to believe there will be another team out there that wanted the rookie we drafted and we could probably move him, if needed.

There usually isn't a big difference in talent between 27 and 34 but I feel there is this year. I agree with several analysts that have said there is a big dropoff after the top 25ish players. We have a strong shot at getting one of those top 25 at 27, because somebody always drops a couple spots as teams pick for need. It's unexpected, but possible that a guy like Justin Anderson, RHJ or Rashad Vaughn falls to us and those are solid prospects. Delon Wright is a SR who may be able to play right away. I believe there is going to be somebody that is worth picking in that slot. If we don't want to use the capspace take Hernangomez and stash him.

Now I'm all for packaging 27 and 34 to move up a take a stronger prospect instead of two lesser rookies. I just don't want to dump the pick in the name of capspace, because the savings are small. You got to believe out of the 80 guys we've worked out that we can find one to be a rotation player.

 

yeah, they won the title because of...winslow and tyus jones...that's the ticket. I'm very confused by the coverage of okafor vs towns. I think it's a coin flip between the two, and I might take okafor #1 if I had to choose. but I guess I'm a total moron.

 

Kyler is assuming that because Towns has been working out in LA he has at the very least talked to the Lakers. It's also likely that Lakers staff has seen him workout, but he hasn't specifically worked out for them. As in, LAL probably stopped by and watched one of his training sessions, he didn't go to El Segundo and let the Lakers put him through their drills.

So no workout has taken place for us, but at this point there is a ton of footage on Towns, so the interview is probably the most important piece anyway. I don't think it matters much though, because everything Towns is doing suggests he's being taken first.

 

Completely agree with JSM, F*** Towns!

 

Keep in mind that it may not be Towns specifically doing this, it could be his agent. He's the consensus #1 pick on nearly every mock draft out there, and most execs say he is #1 as well (although they do say the gap between him and Okafor isn't as big as the internet thinks). There isn't much to prove by him working out. I know it's frustrating that everyone else in the draft is flying all over the country and doing everything they can to show their stuff while Towns appears to not care, but this is the strategy that he and his team decided on.

It doesn't mean he dislikes the Lakers, just that they are trying to control the flow of information about his skills as much as possible. He says he will play anywhere, and I think he is trying to not come across like the bad guy, but that's what is happening anyway. If any of you follow MMA like I do, he actually reminds me a lot of Jon Jones. Maybe a bad example because of Jones' current issues, but Towns seems to measure everything he says and it does come across as a little disingenuous. It's like he is trying so hard in all of his statements to say the right thing and be the good guy that it's having the opposite effect.

That said, this will all be forgotten very quickly if he ends up a Laker on Thursday. I mean really, if the Wolves take Okafor and Towns ends up a Laker, most fans are going to be too busy drooling over this stuff:



to think about the shenanigans that Towns is pulling right now. Randle refused a 2nd workout with Boston last year even though they had the 6th pick and we had the 7th, Stanley Johnson isn't going to workout out for the Hornets even though they have the 9th pick, right where he is projected to be available. It happens.

Of course we would all rather he be excited about coming to the Lakers like Okafor is, but maybe he has communicated that through back channels. There is a lot of info we don't have access to right now.

 

Great takes and perspective unpossibil1.

 

What time is the draft?

 

@unpossibl1 I get it could be Leon Rose behind it. But his two biggest clients (CP3, Melo) play in the two largest NBA markets in the US. if anyone understood the importance and opportunities from those two markets, you'd think it would be him. Agents are all about one thing -- money. The more your client gets, the more you get. I don't know too many endorsement opportunities popping up in Minny. I don't know of any shoe company that gives you extra in your contract if you play in Minny. The fame and norariety that comes with the #2 or #4 pick this year is infinitely greater that of having the title "number one overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. "

Drops, shocks, and trades have proven that anything can happen on draft night. To me, not covering your bases is poor business from an agent's perspective. He has to be aware that we've had everyone else in and that even if he won't workout (weak! ), bring him in officially for an interview and dinners with the management and the coaches. Perception is everything in sports and Hollywood, he's not doing any benefit to his client's image (if this is his doing).

If you're trying to control the flow of information, you don't let it get out that Flip came to LA to see him or that KAT and his pops are flying to Minny.

Turning town a workout with MJ's cluster f*** of an organization or the C Bags (who haven't been relevant since the big 3 and won't be for awhile) is one thing. This is the Lakers though, even when we suck, there is still a level of honor and privilege that comes with just walking into the practice facility (see the nearly 80 guys we brought in...all in awe, drooling, starry eyed).

Even if he didn't want to be Gung ho like Jah, toe the line and equally praise each place and each opportunity. Because, ultimately, until your name is called on draft night, you don't know what's going to happen. I don't care if Flip has given you the wink and the nod. Things change constantly.

 

Apparently Towns IS working out...just for the Wolves so far:

 

Oh I agree, I'm not saying the strategy that Towns is using is the right one, it's certainly not what I would do. I'm just saying there is a lot we don't know and there could be method to the madness. I'm not ready to vilify him just yet, he may or may not be disrespecting the Lakers franchise. It does appear that he either very badly wants to be the first pick or that Minnesota has flat out told him he will be and that nothing will change that. The value of large markets has declined a bit for true super stars with the rise of social media, but there is still an advantage.

We will have to see what happens. I'm guessing he gets drafted first and then says the word "blessed" at least 4 times in his interview.

 

Towns wanted to go too New York. Once New York slipped in the lottery and the option was off the table, I don't think he care where he landed. On topic, about 5 weeks ago I was lamenting over the fact of whether or not we keep our pick or lose it which would have set us back. Now, I'm just happy we're having a conversation of Okafor/Russell.

 

Didn't Okafor have a workout yesterday?

Any news/thoughts from inside?