Do we have a Superstar ?

[alec613]

None, but the one who could be our superstar is Ingram.

Despite his shots not falling, he's still having a positive impact on the team simply by being there.
When Randle or Dlo plays poorly on the offensive end, they tend to take the team down with them with their terrible decision making.

Once, Ingram fills out his frame, he'll be beasting.

Now we just have to wait 2-3 years

[Landsberger]

Every draft has the next "whomever" in it. The last 3 have all been hyped before the draft. The best of the bunch may be Towns or Embiid. Neither of them seem to have a Superstar ceiling.

LA will always "create" a star player. With the fan base as large as ours, and the importance LA has to the league we will have widely exposed players that become stars. Whether or not they are stars because of that or because they are a top 5 player at their position is the key to our success. If we're judging it by merchandise sales and fan all star votes it's one thing to be a star.... if it's by performance it's another. Always been that way in the subjective world of "stars".

That said, we have some potential very good players on our squad. Randle is looking like the guy who can shine at a position that typically doesn't have a lot of glamour associated with it. Right now he's got to be the closest one we have to having the potential to be top 5 in his position. A few years from now we may have a guy like Zubac emerge as well. Ingram plays a deep position in the league as does Russell. They have a larger hill to climb than a PF and a C to be "star" material IMHO.

Did you just said Embiid and Towns don't have Superstar ceilings???

By my definition of Superstar..... yes. Superstars to me are generational players. Kobe, LeBron, maybe Durant.... Players that define the game when they play. Towns and Embiid, currently look like star players, franchise players what ever definition you want but neither look like Shaq or LeBron etc....

[yitur]

Every draft has the next "whomever" in it. The last 3 have all been hyped before the draft. The best of the bunch may be Towns or Embiid. Neither of them seem to have a Superstar ceiling.

LA will always "create" a star player. With the fan base as large as ours, and the importance LA has to the league we will have widely exposed players that become stars. Whether or not they are stars because of that or because they are a top 5 player at their position is the key to our success. If we're judging it by merchandise sales and fan all star votes it's one thing to be a star.... if it's by performance it's another. Always been that way in the subjective world of "stars".

That said, we have some potential very good players on our squad. Randle is looking like the guy who can shine at a position that typically doesn't have a lot of glamour associated with it. Right now he's got to be the closest one we have to having the potential to be top 5 in his position. A few years from now we may have a guy like Zubac emerge as well. Ingram plays a deep position in the league as does Russell. They have a larger hill to climb than a PF and a C to be "star" material IMHO.

Did you just said Embiid and Towns don't have Superstar ceilings???

By my definition of Superstar..... yes. Superstars to me are generational players. Kobe, LeBron, maybe Durant.... Players that define the game when they play. Towns and Embiid, currently look like star players, franchise players what ever definition you want but neither look like Shaq or LeBron etc....

They are not superstars right now, I give you that. But they unquestionable have the superstar potential, if you disagree with it I would love to know who has superstar potential under 23.

[Landsberger]

Did you just said Embiid and Towns don't have Superstar ceilings???

By my definition of Superstar..... yes. Superstars to me are generational players. Kobe, LeBron, maybe Durant.... Players that define the game when they play. Towns and Embiid, currently look like star players, franchise players what ever definition you want but neither look like Shaq or LeBron etc....

They are not superstars right now, I give you that. But they unquestionable have the superstar potential, if you disagree with it I would love to know who has superstar potential under 23.

I don't see anyone with it under 23 except maybe Davis. The guys who are superstars don't typically "grow" into that like many very good players. I just don't see the attitude mixed with the potential/skill in many of the younger top picks in the league. You also have to stay healthy.

The "right now" stuff I'm not much of a fan of. Every team's fans look at their young players as growing on a liner path at a 45° angle to the right. That rarely every happens. Lots of good prospects fall flat. More than make it. I try and look at what's tangible at the moment and separate out what I "want" to see. I don't have a problem with the fans that see nothing but potential at all. It's just not me.

[NBAWestFan]

Out of the last 3 drafts in which we had a lottery pick this is how I see it unfolding so far-

2014
Superstars- Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid
Stars- Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, Jusuf Nurkic.
Good- Marcus Smart, Elfrid Payton, Dario Saric, Zach Lavine, Gary Harris, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, Nikola Jokic.

2015
Superstars- Karl Anthony-Towns, Kristaps Porzingis
Stars- Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay, D'angelo Russell, Devin Booker, Myles Turner
Good- Frank Kaminsky, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Larry Nance Jr.

2016
Superstars- Ben Simmons (can't really account this yet since we haven't seen him play)
Stars- Brandon Ingram
Good- Jamal Murray, Buddy Hield, Denzel Valentine

That said, the Lakers seem to have drafted very well according to their position on the board, but its starting to look like they blew it by taking Russell over Porzingis, and I was/still am on the D'Lo bandwagon.

Very nice analysis. I am not so high on Wiggins, and I feel you are being too kind with Okafor. He is frustrating to watch as he is so disinterested in defending.

I like this too.

With all that said. I like the Hustle from Nance and there is some potential for Ingram who is so young.
Clarkson and Williams I trade in the 2nd tier.
1st trades are DLo, Randle & Swaggie

I would make a package with the bottom three teams in the draft or multiple teams at the bottom.

I would try to get into next years draft.

Philly, Dalllas, Phoenix, Minny. I believe there is potential great than the 1st tier and the 2nd tier.

Make a package.

Luke is great but without two way players the team is limited
and there are no Super stars.

[Ballerhogger]

The nearest star we could land is Cousins if he walks . As of now no....

[XXBKXX]

**** Cousins.. if we don't turn it around this road trip then I think we need to tank and try and keep our pick.. this draft is too deep to pass up..

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[miggs]

This team just needs to keep growing. There aren't any names worth chasing this upcoming summer, unless Noel looks healthy and Philly doesn't match. Really think we'll get better once we have some type of defensive anchor, we don't have anyone really leading that end. The team effort is nice but when assignments are being missed or countered poorly, we need a voice out there. I just don't see that from anyone on our team right now.

Really wonder what we'll do if we keep struggling like this but are still scoring past the 100s, we really need some defense.

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[Vesper]

Not yet.

However, I would bet on Russell being a superstar out of anyone on our team.

[FKAri]

Out of the last 3 drafts in which we had a lottery pick this is how I see it unfolding so far-

2014
Superstars- Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid
Stars- Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, Jusuf Nurkic.
Good- Marcus Smart, Elfrid Payton, Dario Saric, Zach Lavine, Gary Harris, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, Nikola Jokic.

2015
Superstars- Karl Anthony-Towns, Kristaps Porzingis
Stars- Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay, D'angelo Russell, Devin Booker, Myles Turner
Good- Frank Kaminsky, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Larry Nance Jr.

2016
Superstars- Ben Simmons (can't really account this yet since we haven't seen him play)
Stars- Brandon Ingram
Good- Jamal Murray, Buddy Hield, Denzel Valentine

That said, the Lakers seem to have drafted very well according to their position on the board, but its starting to look like they blew it by taking Russell over Porzingis, and I was/still am on the D'Lo bandwagon.

Zach Lavine is more than on the "good" tier. He's a star tier player already (relative to the tier categories you've made) and only getting better. He's been amazing for Minny and he has shown tremendous improvement in his game every single season.

[Vesper]

No one in the past 3 seasons is a Superstar.

Even Towns.

[Spanish_Laker]

A superstar wouldn't have let this team down for 7 games.

[Kilroy]

I think the extreme frustration guys are vastly underestimating just how young our Young guys are... Sure they were clicking early, but it's a really long season and and superstar we could potentially have, Russell, Ingram, Randle, Nance... Have less than 2 seasons under their belts...
There's a reason Lou Williams has been our most productive player this season... He's a legit Vet.

Not saying we should just sit back and trust the process if a real superstar comes along, but we should at least be realistic about the journey we're on.

[Michael Lucky]

Russell is really the best bet, but that will take another couple of years.

[Landsberger]

I think the extreme frustration guys are vastly underestimating just how young our Young guys are... Sure they were clicking early, but it's a really long season and and superstar we could potentially have, Russell, Ingram, Randle, Nance... Have less than 2 seasons under their belts...
There's a reason Lou Williams has been our most productive player this season... He's a legit Vet.

Not saying we should just sit back and trust the process if a real superstar comes along, but we should at least be realistic about the journey we're on.

I agree. I would add that true Superstars (LeBron, Kobe, Duncan etc.) showed much closer to their potential by the end of year 2 regardless of age. I would also note that the mental approach was there with each from the start. That's the part that worries me about Russell more than anything else. Ingram is still a question mark and Randle looks to be a very good 3rd piece on a good team.

Superstars come along in bunches. So far, the last 3 drafts, don't look to have any in them so it isn't like we've missed one.