The #2 Pick

[ak7]

C'mon guys... Happy? Mad? Not sure?

I'm happy. I'm not a good enough scout to claim to know how these things play out but to me if I'm getting a 5, I want to feel great about what they give on defense, and Okafor looked terrible to me. I can't claim to know he won't improve, quite clearly as of last year, he did not "get it". And it's important to understand that in the tourney, he wasn't able to dominate as a scorer, and the team won with a defense led by other players. That probably should have been a lot more embarrassing than it was.

Russell certainly looks to be as much like a "super smart lead guard" as you could expect to see in college, and I think those guys are huge in the league right now. If that proves true for him, then certainly he's worth this pick.

Spot on. The league has been shifting to a guard-orientated type game, if we are taking a center that high he better "get it" on both ends of the floor if there are guards in the draft like Russell.

We have a lot of old school guys on here so I understand the frustration, I do, but Okafor is just not better than Russell.

[eureca20]

Russell has a good skillset with a big upside. I am fine with the pick. If we can get one of the top bigs in free agency and maybe a cheap wing player not a bad starting lineup.

[Laker1]

summer league can't come soon enough!

[rand0m]

Going to have to have some faith in Mitch on this one. I'm hoping they are confident in free agency then.

[DEEP3CL]

C'mon Deep! Not already.

Yes already, we're screwed bank on that. You guys will see in the long run and for the next 3-4 losing seasons.

I respect your opinion and if you prove to be right I'll happily acknowledge it but we have money to spend on free agents. We should be just fine.

As I said early in this thread, we better have a plan if we took a guard. So what if we have money, we haven't been able to entice anybody to come here now all of sudden we can ? C'mon Ace

[ak7]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/614223661403254784[/tweet]

[Tee212]

russell will get another 500k ig followers due to natural selection. welcome to LA!

[Kobe_for_3]

I hope they know they are getting a All Star big in free agency!

[Mirjalovic]

its not too bad

[jigga_man]

I can sleep knowing that a max contract wouldn't be wasted on Goran Dragic

[AcecardZ]

Yes already, we're screwed bank on that. You guys will see in the long run and for the next 3-4 losing seasons.

I respect your opinion and if you prove to be right I'll happily acknowledge it but we have money to spend on free agents. We should be just fine.

As I said early in this thread, we better have a plan if we took a guard. So what if we have money, we haven't been able to entice anybody to come here now all of sudden we can ? C'mon Ace

There were lots of reasons we couldn't attract top free agents before but those reasons are either gone now or have diminished dramatically. We have young talent, money and after this year <sigh> Kobe will be gone so if a guy like Durant comes here it will be his team.

[Sedale Threatt]

C'mon guys... Happy? Mad? Not sure?

I'm happy. I'm not a good enough scout to claim to know how these things play out but to me if I'm getting a 5, I want to feel great about what they give on defense, and Okafor looked terrible to me. I can't claim to know he won't improve, quite clearly as of last year, he did not "get it". And it's important to understand that in the tourney, he wasn't able to dominate as a scorer, and the team won with a defense led by other players. That probably should have been a lot more embarrassing than it was.

Russell certainly looks to be as much like a "super smart lead guard" as you could expect to see in college, and I think those guys are huge in the league right now. If that proves true for him, then certainly he's worth this pick.

Spot on. The league has been shifting to a guard-orientated type game, if we are taking a center that high he better "get it" on both ends of the floor if there are guards in the draft like Russell.

We have a lot of old school guys on here so I understand the frustration, I do, but Okafor is just not better than Russell.

Those was my big issues, that and the free throw shooting. I just read too many assessments where it was possibly beyond inexperience but a fundamental lack of understanding of that part of the game. Obviously, at 19 or 20, it's silly to draw conclusions. He can always improve. But that's just a big problem if it doesn't, and your defense has a hole in the middle. And then the fact that people can just hack him with impunity...I'm just leery of those shortcomings. We shall see what happens...

[AcecardZ]

Yes already, we're screwed bank on that. You guys will see in the long run and for the next 3-4 losing seasons.

I respect your opinion and if you prove to be right I'll happily acknowledge it but we have money to spend on free agents. We should be just fine.

As I said early in this thread, we better have a plan if we took a guard. So what if we have money, we haven't been able to entice anybody to come here now all of sudden we can ? C'mon Ace

There were lots of reasons we couldn't attract top free agents before but those reasons are either gone now or have diminished dramatically. We have young talent, money and after this year <sigh> Kobe will be gone so if a guy like Durant comes here it will be his team.

[ratra_1211]

I can sleep knowing that a max contract wouldn't be wasted on Goran Dragic

and rondo for that matter

[LApwnd]

Yea i was big ok4 backer too but bad ft shooting and poor defense wasn't gona be good for us...hes better off with Noel anyways

[rand0m]

So does the Kings pick mean anything for Cousins?

[semi-sentient]

Well I have to say I was very surprised they picked Russell, but that's who I was rooting for.

Can't wait to see what we do this offseason and next. I'm assuming that LMA and Gasol are the 2 bigs that we're targeting, with Asik being a good fallback for his post defense. Hopefully we just pass on Love. Not the least bit interested.

[AcecardZ]

So does the Kings pick mean anything for Cousins?

That's an excellent question. It's quite possible the Kings wanted Russell and some sort of deal will be worked out where we ship Russell +? for Cousins with WCS being the Kings' new center.

[jigga_man]

I can sleep knowing that a max contract wouldn't be wasted on Goran Dragic

[PurpleBlood24]

Idk guys, I'm not happy right now. It feels like we broke tradition, how can we pass on size?? I really hope Russell pans out, I really do.