Honestly, what were The Lakers FO thinking on Draft night?

[HOoopCityJones]

Basketball pundits everywhere just spent the better part of last year scouting Towns and Okafor as the premiere bigs coming out of college, it was widely considered that you could not go wrong with either. If Towns was off the board, take Okafor , if Jahlil was gone you take Towns, simple.

Yet the Lakers did the most head scratching move Ive ever seen in draft history, they passed up on a post prodigy who helped lead his Team toa national title at Duke, for a kid who literally can't produce above single digits at any facet of the game. I still cringe to this day at the memory of Adam Silver calling out Russell's name instead of Okafor because I was definitely cringing the day of the draft, I couldn't fathom what was happening, why we were picking this mediocre point guard who's only claim to fame is he put a clever spin on the ball that one time and "He didn't even stretch doee" :facepalm

Forget the fact that Jordan Clarkson had just made All-Rookie First Team, forget the fact he had at least 5 assists most of the time he scored above 20 pts last season. Forget he and Randle already had chemistry in the 2014 summer league and that Clarkson emerged in the league while Randle was out with injury. Forget all of that.

Because instead of developing what could've been arguably the most dangerous frontcourt in a few years when you consider the combination of skill, strength, athleticism and finesse...None of it matters because we have D'angelo Russell, the self proclaimed next Steph Curry. This ni99a made sure he was the second pick by reminding every Team he interviewed with during the Summer that Curry and GSW just won the championship and of all Teams the Lakers fell for that stupid shit.

That's what happens when your Team is led by Jim "knee jerk reaction decisions" Buss. This is the same guy who hired Mike Brown because he had game footage. Guess the Lakers video coordinator must be a bum too....:banghead:

But back to the prodigy Russell, the guy who telegraphs a no look pass more than any other guard Ive ever seen. Or better yet we should call it the look-then-no look pass , because instead of just connecting with the roller to the basket or the open shooter chest to chest, Russell rather do a low bounce pass every chance he gets to emphasize his supposedly above average passing skill, or pass to the corpse of Kobe Bryant for a deep 3. This is the guy who was touted as having the best decision making , vision and awareness on the court in the draft.

Claims were that he was the best shooter too, but Ive seen nothing to warrant such claims. This kid can barely do more than one thing at once on a basketball court. If his shot is falling that means the passing is off, if his assists are on the money, then the hoop becomes shot glass size how it concerns his ability to put it in the basket. His Defense is atrocious. Period.

Only guy I know who consistently lets EVERY guard blow by him, I could see if this was against one of the premiere guards in the league but it's everyone who can at least run above 4 mph....

I feel sorry for the Lakers, what Byron and delusional Kobe are doing to this Team is another story entirely, but since I didn't wanna pile on , I thought we'd focus on arguably the worst pick since Darco over Melo.

Fire Byron, beg Kobe to retire and get ****ing rid of Jim Buss or this organization is going nowhere for the next twenty years.

[Derka]

Four games into the season and the meltdowns are in full effect.

ISH in the Autumn :oldlol:

[HOoopCityJones]

Four games into the season and the meltdowns are in full effect.

ISH in the Autumn :oldlol:

So if Marcus Smart had started out this suspect you wouldn't worry? :biggums:

It's not just about his production on the court it's that he doesn't seem to get any better at all, he's overwhelmed every time he touches toe to hardwood. what's worse is our idiot coach can't even cater to his strengths because he doesn't know what he's doing either.

Russell should be PnR like crazy but I haven't seen him do it since the first play of the season where he connected with Randle on an easy basket.

[Real Men Wear Green]

So if Marcus Smart had started out this suspect you wouldn't worry?
Marcus Smart was very underwhelming at the start of last season and although things have gotten better he doesn't look like a franchise player at all. Of course, Marcus Smart wasn't drafted over Jahlil Okafor.

[HOoopCityJones]

Marcus Smart was very underwhelming at the start of last season and although things have gotten better he doesn't look like a franchise player at all. Of course, Marcus Smart wasn't drafted over Jahlil Okafor.

This is what makes it such a big deal.

If we had the 3rd or 4th pick and drafted Russell, I wouldn't be complaining. We take what we can get and hope he develops into a decent staring guard. But we had pick 2, we could've had a real prodigy and we went with Russell based off of hype surrounding another player all together. Someone should be fired because that's micromanaging.

You can't make this shit up.

[STATUTORY]

Lil Okafor plays no defense and grabs no boards, how exactly was he gonna fit into the lakers frontcourt? would we play him next to Randle? that's as close to unplayable as it gets

I'm not in love with Okafor's 20 point in a blowout loss Eddy Curry impression

[Mr. Jabbar]

Jim Buss goes OUT OF HIS WAY to ruin this franchise. Un-fkn-believable.

[HOoopCityJones]

Lil Okafor plays no defense and grabs no boards, how exactly was he gonna fit into the lakers frontcourt? would we play him next to Randle? that's as close to unplayable as it gets

I'm not in love with Okafor's 20 point in a blowout loss Eddy Curry impression

Bro, at this point, I fuccing WISH the least of our problems was Okafor's rebounding right now, at least the 20 pts looks like something to build on.

Russell looked better in Summer League and that's fuccing sad considering the entire internet was already blasting him for being trash. Ni99a has made no progress and has arguably regressed as a player to the point where he can't make open shots.

:yaohappy: @ rebounding.

[Derka]

So if Marcus Smart had started out this suspect you wouldn't worry? :biggums:

It's not just about his production on the court it's that he doesn't seem to get any better at all, he's overwhelmed every time he touches toe to hardwood. what's worse is our idiot coach can't even cater to his strengths because he doesn't know what he's doing either.

Russell should be PnR like crazy but I haven't seen him do it since the first play of the season where he connected with Randle on an easy basket.

Funny you mention him since Marcus Smart didn't start well at all his rookie season...and no, I wasn't worried. It's four games into the season. If your beef is with your coach not using him correctly, that's one thing. But #2 pick or not, the expectations on a 19-year old kid with one year of college under his belt are sounding a bit insane.

If Lakers fans seriously came into this season expecting a worldbeater out of D'Angelo Russell, you were sniffing the paint thinner a little too deeply and that's your own fault.

[Patrick Chewing]

Keep ya head up. You have next year's lottery to look forward to.

[HOoopCityJones]

Funny you mention him since Marcus Smart didn't start well at all his rookie season...and no, I wasn't worried. It's four games into the season. If your beef is with your coach not using him correctly, that's one thing. But #2 pick or not, the expectations on a 19-year old kid with one year of college under his belt are sounding a bit insane.

If Lakers fans seriously came into this season expecting a worldbeater out of D'Angelo Russell, you were sniffing the paint thinner a little too deeply and that's your own fault.

Where did I say the ni99a had to average Chris Paul numbers his rookie year? There's a difference between looking raw like Mudiay, Towns and Okafor and not looking like much at all like Russell.

If he was at least averaging 8 or 7 assists with his 9 pts I would see more potential than doing nothing at all. He's starting for crying out loud.

[keep-itreal]

he's a late bloomer


































:roll: :roll: :roll:

[Harison]

That was a bad decision, but its early to write off D'Slow as well. He hasnt even warmed up in NBA yet.

[Mr. Jabbar]

he's a late bloomer


































:roll: :roll: :roll:

:lol



:(

[Derka]

Where did I say the ni99a had to average Chris Paul numbers his rookie year? There's a difference between looking raw like Mudiay, Towns and Okafor and not looking like much at all like Russell.

If he was at least averaging 8 or 7 assists with his 9 pts I would see more potential than doing nothing at all. He's starting for crying out loud.
Where did you say it? Did you not read over the stuff you posted in your OP or did you black out from anger while typing it?

Prodigy? The next Steph Curry? You said this stuff, dude, lol. If anyone in the bball media honestly said that and you honestly believed it...:lol

Again, you're going all Captain Hindsight on a 19-year old kid with one year of college ball under his belt after four professional games under an admittedly shitty coach. Four games is not enough for any rookie to show ANY meaningful improvement to his game. He's still learning how to tie his pro shoes.

[Uncle Drew]

But he had the 2nd highest PER amongst lottery picks in preseason doe!!

[Sarcastic]

Porzhingis was the best pick. 8 feet tall and can leap buildings in a single bound.

[HOoopCityJones]

Where did you say it? Did you not read over the stuff you posted in your OP or did you black out from anger while typing it?

Prodigy? The next Steph Curry? You said this stuff, dude, lol. If anyone in the bball media honestly said that and you honestly believed it...:lol

Again, you're going all Captain Hindsight on a 19-year old kid with one year of college ball under his belt after four professional games under an admittedly shitty coach. Four games is not enough for any rookie to show ANY meaningful improvement to his game. He's still learning how to tie his pro shoes.

Where the fucc did I say he had to average cp3 numbers as a rookie is what im asking? :biggums:

The Curry comparison is on account that leading up to the draft, post Finals everyone was pretending the Lakers would be idiots to pass up on this kid because GSW won the Finals. Using Curry as an example of what this kid's ceiling could be and it was ridiculous from the jump was my point. You need to learn to pick up on heavy sarcasm or stay on the sidelines of this debate.

No one thought Russell was a prodigy, Okafor was and the Lakers passed up on him because of what exactly? You haven't even answered the question of the OP, what the fucc were The Lakers thinking on draft night that made them pick Dlo over a kid who just led his Team to a national title?

People were only hyped off Russell because his game seemed similar to Curry's and even the kid himself was using it to his advantage, he brought up Steph in damn near every interview I saw of him. Comparing his game to his and equating his possible impact to a reigning MVP. :facepalm

[r15mohd]

Porzhingis was the best pick. 8 feet tall and can leap buildings in a single bound.

Porzinger was definitely a unforeseen steal...still remember the little kid crying during draft night when they announced him as the nYk pick lol.

hopefully tears of joy for him now, as he's looking to be the making of a really good PF/C

[RidonKs]

Basketball pundits everywhere just spent the better part of last year scouting Towns and Okafor as the premiere bigs coming out of college, it was widely considered that you could not go wrong with either. If Towns was off the board, take Okafor , if Jahlil was gone you take Towns, simple.

Yet the Lakers did the most head scratching move Ive ever seen in draft history, they passed up on a post prodigy who helped lead his Team toa national title at Duke, for a kid who literally can't produce above single digits at any facet of the game. I still cringe to this day at the memory of Adam Silver calling out Russell's name instead of Okafor because I was definitely cringing the day of the draft, I couldn't fathom what was happening, why we were picking this mediocre point guard who's only claim to fame is he put a clever spin on the ball that one time and "He didn't even stretch doee" :facepalm

Forget the fact that Jordan Clarkson had just made All-Rookie First Team, forget the fact he had at least 5 assists most of the time he scored above 20 pts last season. Forget he and Randle already had chemistry in the 2014 summer league and that Clarkson emerged in the league while Randle was out with injury. Forget all of that.

Because instead of developing what could've been arguably the most dangerous frontcourt in a few years when you consider the combination of skill, strength, athleticism and finesse...None of it matters because we have D'angelo Russell, the self proclaimed next Steph Curry. This ni99a made sure he was the second pick by reminding every Team he interviewed with during the Summer that Curry and GSW just won the championship and of all Teams the Lakers fell for that stupid shit.

That's what happens when your Team is led by Jim "knee jerk reaction decisions" Buss. This is the same guy who hired Mike Brown because he had game footage. Guess the Lakers video coordinator must be a bum too....:banghead:

But back to the prodigy Russell, the guy who telegraphs a no look pass more than any other guard Ive ever seen. Or better yet we should call it the look-then-no look pass , because instead of just connecting with the roller to the basket or the open shooter chest to chest, Russell rather do a low bounce pass every chance he gets to emphasize his supposedly above average passing skill, or pass to the corpse of Kobe Bryant for a deep 3. This is the guy who was touted as having the best decision making , vision and awareness on the court in the draft.

Claims were that he was the best shooter too, but Ive seen nothing to warrant such claims. This kid can barely do more than one thing at once on a basketball court. If his shot is falling that means the passing is off, if his assists are on the money, then the hoop becomes shot glass size how it concerns his ability to put it in the basket. His Defense is atrocious. Period.

Only guy I know who consistently lets EVERY guard blow by him, I could see if this was against one of the premiere guards in the league but it's everyone who can at least run above 4 mph....

I feel sorry for the Lakers, what Byron and delusional Kobe are doing to this Team is another story entirely, but since I didn't wanna pile on , I thought we'd focus on arguably the worst pick since Darco over Melo.

Fire Byron, beg Kobe to retire and get ****ing rid of Jim Buss or this organization is going nowhere for the next twenty years.
qft :lol :bowdown:

[Achilleas]

it is easy,they show what a scoring pg like curry can do and they hope he will be this type, i don't watch college but i hear his was a mix of curry and harden

[Gileraracer]

Buss X Kobe. Ruining Lakers future for another 5+ years.

[AirFederer]

Rumors have it this is Jim Buss`project for the Draft 2016

https://i.imgflip.com/t96wo.gif

https://i.imgflip.com/t9723.gif

Dat footspeed.

[Mr. Jabbar]

Rumors have it this is Jim Buss`project for the Draft 2016

https://i.imgflip.com/t96wo.gif

https://i.imgflip.com/t9723.gif

Dat footspeed.


:roll: :roll: :roll:

cavsftw would have been a better prospect than dangelo tbh. he already faster than dangello ever was

[oh the horror]

To be honest I'd take Porzingis over Okafor. And the lakers had that option too.

It's really hard to digest right now but I hope for the Lakers sake this kid starts to put something together as the season progresses because right now he looks mediocre while other rookies have looked nice.

[bobopenguin]

i hate to be a knee jerk. but i called it.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=372817

i was suggesting to trade julius randle for kenneth faried.

i was suggesting use no2 pick + clarkson + fillers for cousins.

i was suggesting keep lin and develope him.

if i was gm, right now we could have
PG: Lin
SG: Kobe
SF: whoever
PF: Kenneth Faried
C: Cousins

at least this team is better than the current lakers.