RealGM

As the subject mentions, this is a hindsight post...

Taking a look back at how the last four years unfolded and it's hard for me to not get frustrated by how much our previous regime fumbled our rebuild. We had Consecutive picks of 7,2,2,2 which should be more than enough assets for even a half-competent front office to build a formidable young-core for their franchise. Teams have done much more with a lot lower picks (Phoenix, Bucks, Warriors). Not to mention that at the start of this (once Kobe retired) we had enough cap space for two-max players.

What essentially did us in was bad drafting and Jim Buss' self-imposed timeline. Bad drafting led to botching the Dlo pick. Which we should all be able to admit now that KP or even Booker would have been the better choice. On top of that, the Buss deadline forced Kupchak's hand to not be patient with protecting the cap space and eventually panicked by spending it on Moz and Deng. The right move would have been to draft well-- let the young guys develop-- while continue to offer one year deals (or even two year deals) until we hit with legit free agents.

But no, Magic/Pelinka had to use one mistake in Dlo to clean up another mistake in Mozgovs contract (while still being stuck w Deng). So after the plethora of the 4 picks we've had, we are eventually going to walk away with keeping two of the four (BI and Zo). I'm pretty sure we are not going to match what Randle commands on the open market in the name of preserving our cap space. Another way to look at it is Randles extension is being paid to Deng (again, thanks Mitch/Buss)

If we managed this right, we would now have a young core-four with two max free agent space available. Imagine if today we had (Randle, KP, BI, Zo) plus TWO max space going into this season. OR, we could/should have lost the Dlo pick all together and ended up with (Randle,BI,Zo + this year's pick) and Two max space... Both options were possible with competent patience and better drafting... With that said, I am extremely happy with the moves Magic/PeIinka did so far to salavage the current state. But playing the hindsight game and looking back at the treasure trove we had to work with : 4 valuable picks and two max space available... It's criminal how bad Buss/Kupchak fumbled our rebuild..

Why does everyone keep assuming we land the #2 if we took KP?

Bad drafting???? Way to jump the gun. Players don't just become superstars at 19 and 20 years of age. Our oldest player is only 22 from those drafts.

Michael Lucky wrote:Bad drafting???? Way to jump the gun. Players don't just become superstars at 19 and 20 years of age. Our oldest player is only 22 from those drafts.

It was actually good solid drafting, above average when you look at the players chosen later in the draft

I can appreciate the frustration.
But in hindsight, we've actually drafted pretty well.
Very few people predicted KP would be this good.
Also in hindsight, we dodged huge bullets when D12, Melo, and DA turned us down.
We made two big mistakes in Mozgov and Deng, but can you imagine being stuck with DA now. I think the Spurs are regretting that signing big time.

lakerRD wrote:I can appreciate the frustration.
But in hindsight, we've actually drafted pretty well.
Very few people predicted KP would be this good.
Also in hindsight, we dodged huge bullets when D12, Melo, and DA turned us down.
We made two big mistakes in Mozgov and Deng, but can you imagine being stuck with DA now. I think the Spurs are regretting that signing big time.

LaMarcus Aldridge signing wouldve been terrible for the Lakers as that wouldve made the Lakers a low pingponged lottery team thus no Ingram or Ball. But if all things were equal, Aldridge wouldve been easier and cost less to move than Mozgov and Deng. Pretty much the same with D12 and Melo.

Not again...