RealGM

Anyone else here wish we would of selected this guy with our late first rounder this past year? It was used on Toney Douglas who we traded away? Man oh man what could of been.

yes

NO........where would he have played ? Which forward in the rotation now, that he's better than ? He had knee issues in college, he may be escaping them now but they will creep back in sooner rather than later........bank on it.

in retrospect yes...

so we could trade him for more picks, and hence more cash...

Of course you take Blair.

His presence alone could mean a quicker exodus of one of the centers.

I thought the Hawks should've drafted him instead of Teague. Now there screaming for rebounding off the bench.

GMs are so effin stupid man. You and I would've taken him a lot earlier but these arrogant ass GMs thought he was damaged goods ... not even worth a second round pick.

Dollar for dollar he is ridiculously productive. Which makes his VALUE very good.

That alone means you draft the dude in the second round and figure out the rest later.

I'm glad we have 3 top bigs in our rotation and we can afford them. I'm just disappointed we couldn't draft either Budinger or Mills to strengthen our bench.

I wanted Nick Calathes in the first round and Jack McClinton and Antonio Anderson in the second.

This year we should draft the best PG/shooter. Guys like Jimmer Fredette, Matt Bouldin, Andy Rautins, or Jon Scheyer.

If you draft one of those guys you've got to surround him with good defenders preferably those with long arms.

Calathes was always going to Europe. He agreed to a deal before the NBA draft with Panathinaikos IIRC.

j-far wrote:Calathes was always going to Europe. He agreed to a deal before the NBA draft with Panathinaikos IIRC.

Yeah I know. I thought that just killed three birds with one stone:

1) Get a skilled playmaker/shooter in Calathes.
2) Defer paying Calathes for a year or two.
3) Get Calathes good experience playing professionally.

He'd be taking minutes from Vujacic and Farmar if (hyothetically) he was on this squad now ... a nasty shooter and Luke Walton-esque passer ... a quarterback ... bad D.

But the Lakers went cheap ... pinchin' pennies ... selling both picks.

Calathes, Jack McClinton, and Antonio Anderson would've all helped us for pennies.

j-far wrote:I'm glad we have 3 top bigs in our rotation and we can afford them. I'm just disappointed we couldn't draft either Budinger or Mills to strengthen our bench.

I really wanted Budinger too. I still can't believe he fell deep into the 2nd round.

He has turned out to be a good rebounder and OK scorer. He does spell his name with DeJuan Blair, not DaJuan. Not sure the Lakers would have keep him any way. 3 million dollars go a long way in paying some of the dollar for dollar tax

there is such a thing as too much talent, which usually leads to disharmony in the locker room
if anything i would look for a veteran leader for the locker room, and seeing how powell brings this team together and how well he is respected NO way im giving his spot away

WHADDUPPPPPP DEEP

He has no ACL's!!!

He will last 5-6 yrs if he's lucky. Everyone knew it at draft time and thats why he slipped so low. At some point someone was bound to take him, it was just a matter of when it made sense to have a player of his caliber for 5 years over a lesser player for 10 years. The Spurs pick turned out to be that point.

Seeing as though we wouldn't have used him for at least a few years, no I'm not upset we didn't keep our pick for him.

hes awesome BUT

Gasol/LO/Blair

Blair would have been a steal for longevity

Being a Pitt season ticket holder, I was certainly hoping the Lakers would take him when he was in free fall.

I think the Lakers never expected him to be there and planned accordingly to deal with $$$ issues regarding the pick.

While we seem to have an embarrassment of riches, it is somewhat disheartening when money decisions are made over basketball decisions, but that is where we are at and you can understand Dr. Buss watching expenses somewhat in lieu of all the salary and luxury taxes the Lakers are paying.

Blair could have added talent and future options for the Lakers. Once again though, the Spurs find a second round gem...