[Mr. HookShotParticipant]

 

Although some of you might get sick of ‘another Lakers-post’, I enjoy discussing their future considering they have important decisions to take. The general assumption is the Lakers have two options.

Option 1: Pick Okafor (C) & Sign Solid Wing Player (e.g. Carroll, Middleton)
+ Okafor is considered the second-most talented player in this years draft, and will provide the Lakers with a dominant low post force who is smart passing from the block
+ There is a premium paid for big men, so having two very talented, young big men on rookie contracts will give the Lakers a solid foundation 
+ The Lakers are in dire need for a good wing player who can defend the opponents’ best wing player
+ There are more wing players available, making it easier and more likely for the Lakers to actually sign a solid piece

+/- This will allow Clarkson to develop, but also rely on him developing in a full-time starter

– At this moment in his career Okafor’s defensive game is very much a work in progress 
– There are legitimate questions about the fit between Randle and Okafor, considering they both play close to the basket (although Randolph and Gasol show this can work)
– They will have a very inexperienced frontcourt

Option 2: Pick Russell (PG/SG) & Sign Star Big Man (e.g. Gasol)
+ Russell is one of the most versatile players in the draft, and will fit both at PG (next to Bryant) and SG (next to Clarkson)
+ Russell will instantly be their best shooter, and in today’s NBA shooting is at a premium
+ The star big man will take some of the pressure away from Randle and will probably be able to learn him some important lessons about playing down low
+ This combination will provide more raw talent than that of option 1

– With Clarkson and Bryant, the Lakers seem to already have two solid guards, forcing one of their guards to the bench
– They still lack a solid wing defender who they can throw at the opponents’ best wing
– There are more suitors for the limited amount of big men in the FA class, and the best option is Gasol, who is generally believed to stay in Memphis anyway

 

Verdict: Although Option 2 is more attractive from a talent-acquiring point of view, I believe the Lakers should go for Option 1 considering it is much more realistic. If they would be able to sign Middleton away from the Bucks that would give them a very solid foundation for the future, while also providing Bryant with a chance to win next season, and giving him the chance to mentor these young guys.

 

 

[Gonda15Participant]

http://truluvsports.com/decisions-decisions-kat-vs-okafor/

 

[Gonda15Participant]

http://truluvsports.com/decisions-decisions-kat-vs-okafor/

 

[pappmb93Participant]

 there’s also the possibility of Rondo signing with them, rumors have been coming out all season long about a mutual interest, and if there’s some kind of secret verbal agreement that I think eliminates the possibility of taking Russel (wouldn’t neccesserly be a bad thing to have a stacked backcourt of Clarkson, Kobe, Rondo and Russel) because that would make bigman the more pressing need, Love was also mentioned with LA, but I don’t think he leaves Cleveland where he can win now. Actually this starting 5 would make for a huge improvement:

Rondo    Kobe      Wes Johnson       Randle      Okafor

with Hill and Davis of the bench, it’s a solid frontcourt rotation, Young can be a huge punch of the bench when focused

and if Kobe buys into the idea of him playing less minutes ( approx. 28-30) and playing more off the ball with Rondo as the primary ballhandler, would help maintain his health and if this team can be a borderline playoff team, or with some luck stumble into the playoff it might convince him to stay another year in the hope of luring a FA to LA for a last push for a title, this is obviously speculation and a best case scenario though

Realisticly speaking, what’s most likely is they sign Rondo, draft Okafor, they have a solid offence but a defense ranked around 20 with no rim protection, and Rondo&Kobe slowing down on D, they finish 9-10 in the west, Kobe goes fishing and they go after a big name FA next year with the lure of playing in LA and a lot of money to spend, but anyway barring a miracle they’re AT LEAST 2-3 years away from contentention

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pappmb93Participant]

 there’s also the possibility of Rondo signing with them, rumors have been coming out all season long about a mutual interest, and if there’s some kind of secret verbal agreement that I think eliminates the possibility of taking Russel (wouldn’t neccesserly be a bad thing to have a stacked backcourt of Clarkson, Kobe, Rondo and Russel) because that would make bigman the more pressing need, Love was also mentioned with LA, but I don’t think he leaves Cleveland where he can win now. Actually this starting 5 would make for a huge improvement:

Rondo    Kobe      Wes Johnson       Randle      Okafor

with Hill and Davis of the bench, it’s a solid frontcourt rotation, Young can be a huge punch of the bench when focused

and if Kobe buys into the idea of him playing less minutes ( approx. 28-30) and playing more off the ball with Rondo as the primary ballhandler, would help maintain his health and if this team can be a borderline playoff team, or with some luck stumble into the playoff it might convince him to stay another year in the hope of luring a FA to LA for a last push for a title, this is obviously speculation and a best case scenario though

Realisticly speaking, what’s most likely is they sign Rondo, draft Okafor, they have a solid offence but a defense ranked around 20 with no rim protection, and Rondo&Kobe slowing down on D, they finish 9-10 in the west, Kobe goes fishing and they go after a big name FA next year with the lure of playing in LA and a lot of money to spend, but anyway barring a miracle they’re AT LEAST 2-3 years away from contentention

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 Option one is the safer route and its what most people will expect them to do. However, I like the idea of drafting Russell more even if they aren’t able to sign gasol or Aldridge (which I kind of doubt but you never know). Most people would probably disagree with me here though.  I wouldn’t mind seeing them make a run at deandre Jordan as well. Whatever they choose to do, I don’t think rondo should be in their plans. It would just be a poor fit. 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 Option one is the safer route and its what most people will expect them to do. However, I like the idea of drafting Russell more even if they aren’t able to sign gasol or Aldridge (which I kind of doubt but you never know). Most people would probably disagree with me here though.  I wouldn’t mind seeing them make a run at deandre Jordan as well. Whatever they choose to do, I don’t think rondo should be in their plans. It would just be a poor fit. 

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

 I hope the Lakers get both Love and Rondo.  I hope they have to overpay for both. 

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

 I hope the Lakers get both Love and Rondo.  I hope they have to overpay for both. 

[pappmb93Participant]

this just popped into my head, pure speculation

imagine this: minnesota drafts okafor ( well, this is where the whole things falls apart in reality :D) and the lakers pick towns, in workouts towns impressed with outside shooting, even 3s. Randle is a great ballhandler for his size, they could run the pick and roll/pick and pop game with their pf and c…good luck stopping that

what do you think? could that work?

 

 

[pappmb93Participant]

this just popped into my head, pure speculation

imagine this: minnesota drafts okafor ( well, this is where the whole things falls apart in reality :D) and the lakers pick towns, in workouts towns impressed with outside shooting, even 3s. Randle is a great ballhandler for his size, they could run the pick and roll/pick and pop game with their pf and c…good luck stopping that

what do you think? could that work?

 

 

[Mr. HookShotParticipant]

That would work perfectly, where it not that Minnesota will draft Towns with a 99% certainty. 

[Mr. HookShotParticipant]

That would work perfectly, where it not that Minnesota will draft Towns with a 99% certainty. 

[Mr. HookShotParticipant]

Looking at the draft order I see a unlikely alternative option:

Option 3: Lakers trade down (Lakers give 2nd overall pick to Denver; Denver gives 7th overall pick, Wilson Chandler and Ty Lawson to Lakers)
With that pick the Lakers can pick up Willy Cauley-Stein to protect the rim next to Randle. Next to that they pick up two very nice pieces that fill a definate need in Lawson (PG) and Chandler (SF). Their starting line-up would look like this: Lawson – Bryant – Chandler – Randle – Hill/Cauley-Stein. One important advantage is the amount of cap room Lakers have in 2016, while improving their team right now. However, they do give up the 2nd pick which might bring in superstar talent.

Denver will do this because they finally get a franchise talent (probably Russell), giving them a nice young core of Russell, Faried and Nurkic. 

Realistic? I believe so. Will the Lakers do this? I think the pressure not to trade their pick is too large for them. 

[Mr. HookShotParticipant]

Looking at the draft order I see a unlikely alternative option:

Option 3: Lakers trade down (Lakers give 2nd overall pick to Denver; Denver gives 7th overall pick, Wilson Chandler and Ty Lawson to Lakers)
With that pick the Lakers can pick up Willy Cauley-Stein to protect the rim next to Randle. Next to that they pick up two very nice pieces that fill a definate need in Lawson (PG) and Chandler (SF). Their starting line-up would look like this: Lawson – Bryant – Chandler – Randle – Hill/Cauley-Stein. One important advantage is the amount of cap room Lakers have in 2016, while improving their team right now. However, they do give up the 2nd pick which might bring in superstar talent.

Denver will do this because they finally get a franchise talent (probably Russell), giving them a nice young core of Russell, Faried and Nurkic. 

Realistic? I believe so. Will the Lakers do this? I think the pressure not to trade their pick is too large for them. 

[Numbers_CruncherParticipant]

I think they would have real chance to sign Brook Lopez if they offer him the max. Lopez is a California guy and the only thing keeping him in Brooklyn is the money. What if they signed both Lopez twins?  Then what if Paul Pierce chooses the Clippers and they decline Matt Barnes option? 

Russell – Clarkson

Kobe – Young

Barnes – Johnson

Lopez – Randle

Lopez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Numbers_CruncherParticipant]

I think they would have real chance to sign Brook Lopez if they offer him the max. Lopez is a California guy and the only thing keeping him in Brooklyn is the money. What if they signed both Lopez twins?  Then what if Paul Pierce chooses the Clippers and they decline Matt Barnes option? 

Russell – Clarkson

Kobe – Young

Barnes – Johnson

Lopez – Randle

Lopez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Magic JordanParticipant]

 Lakers get picks 4 and 7

Knicks get Lawson, Farried

Nugs get 2nd pick, THJ, Ryan Kelly.

Nugs might not quite be getting equal value in this scenario… but I don’t think they will have an easy time moving Farrieds contract.  For that reason, I don’t think they could do better for Lawson or Farried then getting the 2nd pick.  This only happens under the assumption that the rumors of Nugs wanting to move Lawson and Farried are true.

Knicks get two players that are better than most likely anybody they would get in free agency this year.

Lakers still hold onto a top 4 pick and pick up number 7.

Obviously it’s too crazy to happen, but as a Lakers fan I think I could get behind it.

 

 

 

 

[MopgrassParticipant]

 The Lakers would have to throw in the 27th pick to make this happen. Probably more (which they don’t have). I still like the relative idea (you mentioned this one before). 

[MopgrassParticipant]

 The Lakers would have to throw in the 27th pick to make this happen. Probably more (which they don’t have). I still like the relative idea (you mentioned this one before). 

[pappmb93Participant]

 lopsided trade towards LA, they come out great, instead of Okafor they pick Mudiay and WCS most likely in this case( though rumors have been coming out about Boston being set on taking WCS at 6) or Winslow/ Hezonja which is better IMO in the long run, but still they probably wouldn’t do it, the pressure’s on them to win as soon as possibly, probably still with Kobe and all of the above prospects need at least 2 years (but after that their combined value may outweight Okafor’s if they reach their potential) to be key component in a winning team while Okafor is more of a plug-n-play guy

knicks get fair value IF they can get both to sign, but i’m not sure how those players fit their offensive scheme, but 2 experinced players are better than a rookie if you want to win while Melo’s there

nuggets get Okafor/Russell and a good 3-4th option in Hardaway, while it seems unequal, it’s not bad for a guy that would walk away anyway in FA and good but not great, undersized point guard and 7th pick in what’s IMO a 6 player draft, still they would need to press the other gm’s for more, at least another first rounder in a couple of years

 

 

[pappmb93Participant]

 lopsided trade towards LA, they come out great, instead of Okafor they pick Mudiay and WCS most likely in this case( though rumors have been coming out about Boston being set on taking WCS at 6) or Winslow/ Hezonja which is better IMO in the long run, but still they probably wouldn’t do it, the pressure’s on them to win as soon as possibly, probably still with Kobe and all of the above prospects need at least 2 years (but after that their combined value may outweight Okafor’s if they reach their potential) to be key component in a winning team while Okafor is more of a plug-n-play guy

knicks get fair value IF they can get both to sign, but i’m not sure how those players fit their offensive scheme, but 2 experinced players are better than a rookie if you want to win while Melo’s there

nuggets get Okafor/Russell and a good 3-4th option in Hardaway, while it seems unequal, it’s not bad for a guy that would walk away anyway in FA and good but not great, undersized point guard and 7th pick in what’s IMO a 6 player draft, still they would need to press the other gm’s for more, at least another first rounder in a couple of years

 

 

[Magic JordanParticipant]

 Lakers get picks 4 and 7

Knicks get Lawson, Farried

Nugs get 2nd pick, THJ, Ryan Kelly.

Nugs might not quite be getting equal value in this scenario… but I don’t think they will have an easy time moving Farrieds contract.  For that reason, I don’t think they could do better for Lawson or Farried then getting the 2nd pick.  This only happens under the assumption that the rumors of Nugs wanting to move Lawson and Farried are true.

Knicks get two players that are better than most likely anybody they would get in free agency this year.

Lakers still hold onto a top 4 pick and pick up number 7.

Obviously it’s too crazy to happen, but as a Lakers fan I think I could get behind it.

 

 

 

 

[Sam_Da_Man17Participant]

 magic i wish that would happen for the lakers but i just doubt knicks would do such a thing…i think they would need a bit more..but who knows phil the gm is not phil the coach.

[Sam_Da_Man17Participant]

 magic i wish that would happen for the lakers but i just doubt knicks would do such a thing…i think they would need a bit more..but who knows phil the gm is not phil the coach.

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