Report: Klay Thompson Would Have Entered 2010 Draft With Guarantee From Lakers

Post #1 » by **RealGM Wiretap** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 6:24 pm

Klay Thompson would have entered the 2010 NBA Draft out of Washington State had the Los Angeles Lakers guaranteed they would take him in the first round.

Thompson returned to school for his junior season and became the 11th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2011 NBA Draft.

The Lakers had already traded their first round pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, though they did own the 38th pick from the Memphis Grizzlies.

Via Marc J. Spears/Yahoo! Sports

Rated T By CBRA · Post #2 » by **Rated T By CBRA** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 6:30 pm

Not sure how he would mesh with Kobe if that did happen...

Twinkie defense · Post #3 » by **Twinkie defense** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 6:36 pm

The Lakers "declined." Oops!

jimmy keys · Post #4 » by **jimmy keys** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:03 pm

So let me get this straight, Klay Thompson would have declared for the 2010 draft had the Lakers made a promise to take him with a first round pick that they didn't have? Riiiiiiiight, that's some top notch sports reporting from Marc Spears. :lol:

InfraRedshaw · Post #5 » by **InfraRedshaw** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:13 pm

to be fair, klay was sort of a sleeper, i mean i know knowledgeable nba fans who didnt even know who he was once Gstate picked him up

hyberx · Post #6 » by **hyberx** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:13 pm

If Lakers had selected K.Thompson, his chance of becoming the player that he is right now might even be lower. He wasn't a confident player in his rookie year. I still remember him hanging his head after missing a few shots in his first games. He didn't have a good year playing behind Monta, who eventually got traded to make room for Thompson to grow. Mark Jackson did a good job encouraging him to keep shooting.

If Thompson was with the Lakers, playing behind Kobe who will never go anywhere, the chance of him developing is unlikely.

So yeah this is a non-story. It's not always about how talented a player is, but how he was developed after coming into the league.

Leto · Post #7 » by **Leto** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:46 pm

EddieJonesFan · Post #8 » by **EddieJonesFan** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:00 pm

InfraRedshaw wrote:to be fair, klay was sort of a sleeper, i mean i know knowledgeable nba fans who didnt even know who he was once Gstate picked him up

If they didn't know about him in that draft, then they just didn't follow the draft very much.

j-reign · Post #9 » by **j-reign** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:09 pm

hyberx wrote:If Lakers had selected K.Thompson, his chance of becoming the player that he is right now might even be lower. He wasn't a confident player in his rookie year. I still remember him hanging his head after missing a few shots in his first games. He didn't have a good year playing behind Monta, who eventually got traded to make room for Thompson to grow. Mark Jackson did a good job encouraging him to keep shooting.

If Thompson was with the Lakers, playing behind Kobe who will never go anywhere, the chance of him developing is unlikely.

So yeah this is a non-story. It's not always about how talented a player is, but how he was developed after coming into the league.

He was already familiar with the Lakers organization personally because of his dad. I think he would have been in his comfort zone from the get-go.

Muggsy Bogues · Post #10 » by **Muggsy Bogues** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:28 pm

jimmy keys wrote:So let me get this straight, Klay Thompson would have declared for the 2010 draft had the Lakers made a promise to take him with a first round pick that they didn't have? Riiiiiiiight, that's some top notch sports reporting from Marc Spears.

I'm guessing they'd have moved some bench players for a pick, along with some cash. Teams do it all the time, and Klay was less well-known than he ended up being a year later, so something in the mid-teens might've done the job.

InfraRedshaw · Post #11 » by **InfraRedshaw** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:22 pm

EddieJonesFan wrote:
InfraRedshaw wrote:to be fair, klay was sort of a sleeper, i mean i know knowledgeable nba fans who didnt even know who he was once Gstate picked him up

If they didn't know about him in that draft, then they just didn't follow the draft very much.

yeah i remember killing it in 2k and my bro thought i was hacking the game, who is this klay guy?
now he's psychically tethered to klays scrotum

2thehoopand1 · Post #12 » by **2thehoopand1** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:23 pm

Good thing he didn't

Scalabrine · Post #13 » by **Scalabrine** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 10:19 pm

hyberx wrote:If Lakers had selected K.Thompson, his chance of becoming the player that he is right now might even be lower. He wasn't a confident player in his rookie year. I still remember him hanging his head after missing a few shots in his first games. He didn't have a good year playing behind Monta, who eventually got traded to make room for Thompson to grow. Mark Jackson did a good job encouraging him to keep shooting.

If Thompson was with the Lakers, playing behind Kobe who will never go anywhere, the chance of him developing is unlikely.

So yeah this is a non-story. It's not always about how talented a player is, but how he was developed after coming into the league.

Monta didn't get traded because of Thompson. Monta and Curry were not a great fit together, and the Warriors had been trying to get a legit Center for months before that trade (they signed D.Jordan to an offer sheet that the Clippers matched). Sure, it helped that Thompson was there and seemed like a good prospect but he was not the reason they traded Monta.

Also, while I agree that opportunity has a big reason to do with success, if a player is talented he will find a place to play on a team for the most part.

caronimo · Post #14 » by **caronimo** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 10:21 pm

that 2010 first round lakers pick was part of the pau gasol trade way back in feb 2008. it was worth giving up that pick considering they won 2 championships with gasol (that pick ended up being greivis vasquez).

according to prosportstransactions.com lakers had the 43rd pick from memphis, not the 38th. http://www.prosportstransactions.com/ba ... s/2010.htm

sogood · Post #15 » by **sogood** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 10:22 pm

Lakers didn't even have a first round pick in 2010.

lambchop · Post #16 » by **lambchop** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 10:28 pm

This probably would have ruined his career. He gained so much valuable experience with the warriors and has developed into a terrific player. No one on that lakers team would have had the personality or maturity to take him under their wing and give him confidence night in and out.

johne86 · Post #17 » by **johne86** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 11:59 pm

Hmm.... let me see which is better an unproven rookie that would have developed differently on the Lakers than he did on the Warriors OR Pau Gasol and two championships, ya I'm going to go with the latter.

vincecarterfan · Post #18 » by **vincecarterfan** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 12:48 am

what a waste of bandwidth

Sofa King · Post #19 » by **Sofa King** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 2:34 am

Klay dodged a bullet. He would have been injured and out of the league by now.

DEEP3CL · Post #20 » by **DEEP3CL** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 3:20 am

jimmy keys wrote:So let me get this straight, Klay Thompson would have declared for the 2010 draft had the Lakers made a promise to take him with a first round pick that they didn't have? Riiiiiiiight, that's some top notch sports reporting from Marc Spears.

Gotta agree, how the hell are you gonna guarantee something you don't freakin have ?