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I'm wondering if this might be the greatest steal ever. To sign a previous top 20 prospect who went undrafted to the summer league and maybe to the roster.

He's been booted off of 2 college programs, red flagged before the draft to have a heart condition, cleared a week before draft so only got to work w/ a couple of teams. He's hired a life coach, had Bill Walton to talk to. Here the Lakers have Kareem to work with the big guy. Kobe can pass whatever post moves and foot work he learned from Hakeem.

I'm drooling at looking at these numbers:

Comparative stats per-40 minutes
Player, draft order FG% REB BLK PTS
Karl-Anthony Towns, No. 1 .566 12.7 4.3 19.5
Jahlil Okafor, No. 3 .664 11.3 1.9 23.0
Willie Cauley-Stein, No. 6 .572 9.9 2.6 13.8
Frank Kaminsky, No. 9 .547 9.8 1.7 22.3
Robert Upshaw, undrafted .593 13.1 7.2 17.6

so what do you all think?

Im trying to keep my expectations tempered but I do like his potential. Here is a good article I found that gave me some hope for him.

http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2015/7/3/8889011/la-lakers-robert-upshaw-nba-draft

Granted it was written before we knew about Hibbert.

djericho wrote:I'm wondering if this might be the greatest steal ever. To sign a previous top 20 prospect who went undrafted to the summer league and maybe to the roster.

He's been booted off of 2 college programs, red flagged before the draft to have a heart condition, cleared a week before draft so only got to work w/ a couple of teams. He's hired a life coach, had Bill Walton to talk to. Here the Lakers have Kareem to work with the big guy. Kobe can pass whatever post moves and foot work he learned from Hakeem.

I'm drooling at looking at these numbers:

Comparative stats per-40 minutes
Player, draft order FG% REB BLK PTS
Karl-Anthony Towns, No. 1 .566 12.7 4.3 19.5
Jahlil Okafor, No. 3 .664 11.3 1.9 23.0
Willie Cauley-Stein, No. 6 .572 9.9 2.6 13.8
Frank Kaminsky, No. 9 .547 9.8 1.7 22.3
Robert Upshaw, undrafted .593 13.1 7.2 17.6

so what do you all think?

What do I think? I think what I've been saying since before the draft - Upshaw is going to surprise a lot of people, that he is exactly what this team needs at center, that I believe he's really turned his personal life around and that he is going to be a force in this league.

Nothing's changed my mind about him.

Hope the FO figures out what they have and signs him quick.

I really think he is going to be pretty good. Lets just hope we sign him before someone else does.

I'm hoping upside Deandre or ibaka

Downside I don't think can get worse than bynum if personal issues are gone, which would be a win considering Lakers didn't spend a pick to get him.

All hail the PAINT GOD

Um... well I like the optimism.

djericho wrote:I'm hoping upside Deandre or ibaka

Downside I don't think can get worse than bynum if personal issues are gone, which would be a win considering Lakers didn't spend a pick to get him.

Bynum was the second best center in the NBA for a couple of years, better than deandre and Ibaka ever were. Weird comparisons and pretty high expectations of Bynum is his downside

Bynum 2.0 is the best comparison

dockingsched wrote:

djericho wrote:I'm hoping upside Deandre or ibaka

Downside I don't think can get worse than bynum if personal issues are gone, which would be a win considering Lakers didn't spend a pick to get him.

Bynum was the second best center in the NBA for a couple of years, better than deandre and Ibaka ever were. Weird comparisons and pretty high expectations of Bynum is his downside

Bynum should be better than any center in the NBA today.

dockingsched wrote:

djericho wrote:I'm hoping upside Deandre or ibaka

Downside I don't think can get worse than bynum if personal issues are gone, which would be a win considering Lakers didn't spend a pick to get him.

Bynum was the second best center in the NBA for a couple of years, better than deandre and Ibaka ever were. Weird comparisons and pretty high expectations of Bynum is his downside

Looking career wise and even at bynums best years, he was the 2nd best big on the team behind Gasol

djericho wrote:

dockingsched wrote:

djericho wrote:I'm hoping upside Deandre or ibaka

Downside I don't think can get worse than bynum if personal issues are gone, which would be a win considering Lakers didn't spend a pick to get him.

Bynum was the second best center in the NBA for a couple of years, better than deandre and Ibaka ever were. Weird comparisons and pretty high expectations of Bynum is his downside

Looking career wise and even at bynums best years, he was the 2nd best big on the team behind Gasol

Yes but still better than ibaka or deandre jordan.

Robert Upshaw talking about getting picked up by the Lakers to play in Summer League: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yJ16LbYkeU&sns=em[/youtube]

EDIT: Sorry, a ton of edits on this post. First time posting a YouTube video.

A nice player to develop. Hopefully they sign him. Better than seeing Sacre for sure.

lake_show wrote:Robert Upshaw talking about getting picked up by the Lakers to play in Summer League: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yJ16LbYkeU&sns=em[/youtube]

EDIT: Sorry, a ton of edits on this post. First time posting a YouTube video.

nice interview, gives me hope for him. no doubt this dude is physically gifted and talented. but he really needs to get his head on straight.

Let's see a couple of summer league games first yeah? I like his potential but getting kicked off of two college programs is a pretty big deal.

Marionettetc wrote:Let's see a couple of summer league games first yeah? I like his potential but getting kicked off of two college programs is a pretty big deal.

Sign the regular 2 year minimum deal with 2nd year team option then stash him in the D League until we really get desperate. If he plays well and is disciplined in d league then he's worth a try.

How many blunts smoked per 40 doe?

djericho wrote:I'm hoping upside Deandre or ibaka

Downside I don't think can get worse than bynum if personal issues are gone, which would be a win considering Lakers didn't spend a pick to get him.

Ha downside is an all star big, while upside is a worse overrated Deandre or a high level role player in ibaka.

dipstick wrote:

Marionettetc wrote:Let's see a couple of summer league games first yeah? I like his potential but getting kicked off of two college programs is a pretty big deal.

Sign the regular 2 year minimum deal with 2nd year team option then stash him in the D League until we really get desperate. If he plays well and is disciplined in d league then he's worth a try.

I agree, I was just disagreeing with calling him a "steal" after two practices