Agreed. I think we'd have to move either Clarkson or Randle to the bench in order to clear the lineup of ball controllers. I'd pick Clarkson and he could be our versatile and consistent Sixth Man type of player. His speed and athleticism off the bench would be terrific. Go out and sign guys like Batum, Barnes, Horford, Whiteside, or Derozan and you've got a pretty damn dynamic team. It'll have flaws, but they'd also have STRONG talent in the NBA.
I'd be very happy with a full youth movement. But Jim and Jeanie's deadline worry me. We'll see. I hope you are right on this one.
Ingram fits our team better and arguably could be the better player. He's at #1 for me on my draft board right now
Best case scenario Draft Ingram or Simmons Sign derozan and whiteside and keep Hibbert for cheap Dlo/jc Derozan/lou Ingram or simmons/ swaggy p/ brown Randle/Nance jr Whiteside/ Hibbert/black
No. Due to Russell's "cockiness" our best case would obviously have us signing Mike Conely to put Russell in his place.
The Lakers will go after the big fish: Durant, DeRozan, Whiteside, Horford, etc. They'll spend the majority of their time planning, making phone calls, and going about their 'pitch' to acquire them. While I like that going after the big FA's, this season affords us the possibility of working multiple angles with our salary cap flexibility and paring two of the bigger free agents together, IMO...ie.e Horford/Durant or something along those lines. That I believe is the goal and would be the perfect scenario. However, that is a long shot. Or just go the Portland route. Change coaches, build around your youth, acquire pieces that accommodate them, and go from there; Portland's roster isn't great at all. They have a very promising backcourt, some decent players, and they are competitive. Grab yourself a rim protecting big that could catch and finish in pick in roll, a defensive wing, and shooters. Install a motion offense mixed in with high pick in roll and you got something brewing...
Anybody paying attention to what Buddy Hield is doing? It's highly doubtful Lakers will draft him but he's putting up Steph Curry-esque numbers right now basically scoring 26 ppg shooting 53/52/90 right now. He attempts 8 threes a game, which is half of his field goal attempts, so he's scoring at a ridiculously high level right now and carrying his team as Oklahoma is #1 right now. I've only seen him play one game against Kansas and was amazing in that game as well. Anyways, I just saw his numbers and was amazed by it. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/61663/buddy-hield
Never heard of him. Thanks for posting this. Some people may not like that he's a 4 year player already but it means he knows how to play and if Nance Jr. has taught me anything this year its that being a 4 year player is usually a good thing. I'm already think how cool it would be if we got Ingram or Simmons and Hield! I doubt it but, just thinking about the pipe dream
I don't see Hield being drafted by the lakers in any scenario unless we get the third pick and willing to let clarkson go. Otherwise, the backcourt will be way too crowded. Honestly, I always slept on the 4-year players as well, but seeing how lillard and mccollum (both coming from small schools) are playing very well right now and still have plenty of room to grow has made me realize you can't sleep on the 4 year players. Also, Curry and Thompson came out after 3 years of college and Draymond also came out after 4 years.
So I watched the entire LSU-Oklahoma game last night and obviously Buddy Hield was extremely impressive for a 4 year player. ESPN showed a stat during the game of each of his years in college and there was a slight improvement year to year but now in his senior year its crazy the jump he's made. Apparantly he was going to enter the draft last year but was astonished to see that he would likely being going in the 2nd round and not 1st. He stayed in school, worked hard during the off-season and is now enjoying the fruits of his labor. My opinion on Simmons from what I saw in just this game is one of a passive personality. There is no question he has the skills, talent, and basketball IQ but he needed a injection of aggression. Too many times I was shaking my head especially toward the end of the game of him not wanting the ball in his hands. Some can say his teammates weren't able to get him the ball but Simmons didn't work hard enough to get good post position. If he really wanted the ball he would run to the ball handler and get it. I'm not saying he's scared of the big moments, not at all. I just wish he would be more assertive and aggressive. Heck d***y V was almost yelling at the screen saying the same thing. The guy needs to want the ball. Whereas in complete contrast, and this might have something to do with being a 4 year player and more experienced but Buddy Hield was taking and making all the big shots/plays when it mattered most. Simmons after the game even said Buddy reminded him of James Harden. I don't really see the comparison there but he definitely is a shot maker and an underrated rebounder for his size. Again this is just one game, but its what I took away most.
One LSU game I watched the announcers were talking about how Simmons sort of respects his elder teammates too much. Like he knows he's the best player out there, we know he's the best player out there, but he's a freshman so he's not trying to take all the spotlight and still deferring to the guys that have been there longer. They also mentioned how he needed to not worry about that and do his thing, but that they did respect that trait. I believe they mentioned it could be a trait of coming up playing ball in Australia rather than here, because let's be real, American players certainly don't have an issue with being selfish.
Breaking down Ben Simmons' game and the NBA players he resembles. http://sports.yahoo.com/video/lsus-ben-simmons-compares-nba-214208401.html
Brooklyn really messed up somewhere and the freaking C Bags are going to benefit from that. In other news, Phoenix could have had, potentially 2 top 5 picks.
