**Magic to assist Jeannie in basketball and business

[danfantastk32]

2014: Randle – inconsistent but has shown signs to be a dynamic nba player, still has good upside.
2014: Clarkson – Jim/Mitch made a Shrewd move buying this draft pick and it’s been a great move. Finding the type of impact from Clarkson in the 2nd round is admirable. Great pick.
2015: Russell – Same as Randle, but a bit more bumpy. Still only 20 and too early to tell.
2015: Nance – Has become an instant locker favorite, brings energy, and much needed athleticism. Injury bug has hampered him, but has a bright future. Great Pick.
2015: Brown – no longer on the roster, 2nd round pick, doesn’t mean much
2016: Ingram – Again same as Randle and Russell. Most “experts” expected a red-shirt season. Impressed with work ethic and attitude. Need to see more.
2016: Zubac – Absolute steal. Not only has he made the roster, he’s cracked the regular rotation. Very advance offensive skills, needs seasoning. Very high upside, great pick.

Where's the results then? If all these guys are so great....how come we're a complete travesty as a team?

I feel like this get's ignored when you talk about Jim. It's like the pro-Jim/Mitch people just have no idea where the anti-Jim/Mitch people get these wild ideas from. Does anyone think this years team is good? Last years? The one before? The one before that?

Where are the fruits of this great drafting? We're a game above the worst team in the West. Rock bottom.....like the year before, and the year before. I just don't get the part where anyone actually defends him.

I don't mean this as a total go at you dontforget....I'm just responding to your post. This is more for everyone. But in your post you just sorta dismiss the fact that "yes his FA signing has been horrible, but...." and I dont get that at all. FA signing is a HUGE part of being in charge of a basketball team. Why would anyone want to settle for that? Look at our record! Look at last years! Why would anyone accept that?

Does anyone thing he's "great" at this? Why would anyone want less than great? I personally think Jim is totally sh** at running the team, in just about every facet imaginable. But even if I were to lighten up a little on this point, and that point.....the guy is so, so, far from really good, that I don't get the defense of him.

[danfantastk32]

Sorry, but I just find all this baffling. All this talk about some dude's "smear campaign" is just beyond the pale. It's the kinda "wagon circling" you see from religions. I mean it....It's getting to that point.

On Feb 24th at 8-pm Eastern time, you will get to watch Jims team take the court again.......and let that be the real smear campaign. You wanna talk horribly about Jim? All you gotta do is talk about the last 300 or so Laker games we've all watched. There's no bigger insult to Jim Buss than the product on the floor.

This team is complete junk, and everyone knows it. The FA's he signed were abject busts....we've become a perennial bottom-feeder, hoping to draft picks year after year. Why would anyone write anything good about Jim?

Is our revenue / viewership up since he took over?
How's our record since he took over?
Any great Superstar signings?
How are all these great Draft picks working out? What? 3rd worst record in the league? Well that's certainly not a positive.
Maybe their defense is coming around?

If you wanna have a go at the article, it really aughta revolve around the fact that dissing Jim is akin to shootin fish in a barrel.

[slifersd]

Jimmy and Mitch's drafts definitely were not bad, but that can't save their jobs because they didn't get their primary objective done, which is to get a superstar. By all means, it can be argued that Jim and Mitch got incredibly good value with guys like Nance, Clarkson and Zubac, and I don't think anyone here is going to argue otherwise. If we still had a couple of superstars on the team, guys like those would have earned accolades for this FO. But that's not where we are at as a team. The only reason we go into these drafts every year is because it is the only way for us to get a superstar and so far, we have not gotten one. As nice as Nance, Clarkson and Zubac are, they are not needle movers. You cannot go into a free agent meeting by going "Sign with us, and you get to play with Nance, Clarkson and Zubac!" And then we examine the top of the draft in Randle, Dlo and Ingram. Again, these guys are not bad, but none of them is a sure fire superstar. Dlo and BI have potential, but their future is completely up in the air because they have not shown much on the court so far.

[dontforget]

Jeez the freakout...Just maybe we haven't seen the results of the draft because we haven't even finished the 2nd year of Randle and Russell. Hell Ingram hasn't even finished his rookie year.

There's way too much of a over reaction for young players that dont have a constant arrow pointing up. Just maybe setbacks are part of the process. It's true Lakers don't have that superstar right now. But don't get that confused that the Lakers don't have superstar potential on the roster.

Also if you read my post completely you'd see me point to both sides of the equation and concluding that this upcoming year will give us a more clear picture of what type of ceilings Russell, Randle and Ingram are. Then you can make a fully informed decision on Jim/Mitch's drafts.

[Pointgod]

I don't see anything wrong with that Ding article. While there is some Monday morning quarterbacking, there's no way that you can give Jim and Mitch anything than a failing grade. How long can you ignore their lack of creativity in the trade market, Jims unhealthy infatuation with Bynum (you guys realize he would have maxed out bad knees Bynum if it wasn't for the Howard trade), horrible free agent management and the complete lack of direction for this team.

[LAKESHOW]

we aint winnig anything with rookies. young hot talent. if that were the case. the Minnesota timberwolves would be a lot closer than they are now. far away with their talent. Magic can bring in the Stars. STARS is what wins games. That's why you get rid of the young talent and help the star win, ala LeBron timberwolves. Help LeBron. Dump young stud. bring in KLove. Bling.