Did drafting Hart and Kuzma save the Lakers?

[SF_Warriors]

Don't get it twisted...tanking saved the lakers. Gave them the assets to convince bron to sign and trade for AD.

With that said, there is tons of value being able to find starters or rotation players especially in the late first round and anywhere in the second.

[Vae Victus]

No, drafting those 2 did not "save" the Lakers. But the Lakers ability to draft well late in drafts, gave them the ability to pad out their rosters with useful young players with potential to be really helpful as rotation players or trade assets.

Then Magic threw at least half of em away for jack **** cuz he's a moron who doesnt know how to work the cap in his futile chase for Kawhi.

To put it in perspective, if Ainge had the Lakers ability to draft consistently well late, BOS would be a dynastic squad (even with Hayward's injury), due to the ability to build an excellent 5-12 roster ON THE CHEAP, after building around Tatum/Brown/FA Superstar/Hayward of course. Ainge could go into full on trader mode and swap useful young CHEAP players like a Kuzma/Hart/Clarkson/Zubac/Wagner/Bryant around as either trade ammo to package for a disgruntled superstar like Kawhi/AD/PG13 (even risking it for 1 year, cuz Ainge can always draft more late gems) or for better more expensive veteran role players.

Conversely, if the Lakers had hit on their #2 picks (Zinger instead of DLo, Ingram was fine, Tatum over Lonzo), along with their ability to draft late, the team would be more godlike with Lebron/AD coming on board. Not to mention would have convinced the team to NOT sign pure trash like Deng/Mozgov as way to get "better" quickly LOL.

[yitur]

Seriously, Davis demanding a trade and Kyrie going nuts were the things that saved the Lakers.

[Osirus89]

Considering that Josh Hart was a throw-in for the AD trade and Kuzma has been thoroughly mediocre since he came into the league... I'll take a big leap out on a limb and say acquiring them has been inconsequential to the Lakers fortunes.

[robbie84]

lol.
Being in Los Angeles saved the Lakers.
Kuzma's a scrub. Hart's a scrub in NBA terms.

[Dajadeed]

I think sometimes people like to bash the value of first round picks, but a lot of times that comes down to GMs that really don't use them wisely. In 2017 the Lakers did a pretty good job with their three picks and to me it set them up for the future.

There's the Lonzo Ball pick that we can second guess considering how good Tatum turned out, but considering Ball was a key piece in landing AD I think it's hard to complain too much about that.

I think they really saved themselves with the late first round picks that year though. They were a mess, I don't think there was really a light at the end of the tunnel, but a couple picks that were usually of little value turned out quite well.

First there was Kuzma at 27, who started turning heads right away. Career average at that position is 15 minutes per game. Kuzma jumps right in and he's getting 30, and looking like a solid offensive threat.

Then you have Hart at 30. He'd be expected to play 14 minutes per game. As a rookie he goes out and plays 23 minutes and shows some potential as well.

So, you're expecting 29 minutes per game (not even that much as rookies), you get 53. Of course that might be a bit inflated due to Lakers sucking, but one advantage of rebuilding is you can showcase your assets.

The first thing is this makes the Lakers a bit more attractive to LeBron. If they struck out on those picks, they'd have had less talent to build around. So, does LeBron even go to LA if those two picks are busts?

Beyond that though, if those two picks are busts do they land AD? Obviously the Lakers managed to keep Kuzma, but if they had neither I wonder how hard it would have been to pull off the AD trade.

Anyway, just thinking out loud but to me that was really the point that the Lakers pulled out of their nosedive.

What saved the Lakers was keeping the Ingram, Lonzo, and DLo picks. Draft lottery was stressful given the pick protections but we got lucky and kept all picks

[Richard Miller]

No. LeBron James signing there and Anthony Davis forcing a trade there saved the Lakers

/thread

[robbie84]

No, drafting those 2 did not "save" the Lakers. But the Lakers ability to draft well late in drafts, gave them the ability to pad out their rosters with useful young players with potential to be really helpful as rotation players or trade assets.

Then Magic threw at least half of em away for jack **** cuz he's a moron who doesnt know how to work the cap in his futile chase for Kawhi.

To put it in perspective, if Ainge had the Lakers ability to draft consistently well late, BOS would be a dynastic squad (even with Hayward's injury), due to the ability to build an excellent 5-12 roster ON THE CHEAP, after building around Tatum/Brown/FA Superstar/Hayward of course. Ainge could go into full on trader mode and swap useful young CHEAP players like a Kuzma/Hart/Clarkson/Zubac/Wagner/Bryant around as either trade ammo to package for a disgruntled superstar like Kawhi/AD/PG13 (even risking it for 1 year, cuz Ainge can always draft more late gems) or for better more expensive veteran role players.

Conversely, if the Lakers had hit on their #2 picks (Zinger instead of DLo, Ingram was fine, Tatum over Lonzo), along with their ability to draft late, the team would be more godlike with Lebron/AD coming on board. Not to mention would have convinced the team to NOT sign pure trash like Deng/Mozgov as way to get "better" quickly LOL.

LOL, the Celtics would have been a dynasty if Danny Ainge had drafted Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart...
some of the takes on the general board never cease to amaze me hahaha

[Vae Victus]

No, drafting those 2 did not "save" the Lakers. But the Lakers ability to draft well late in drafts, gave them the ability to pad out their rosters with useful young players with potential to be really helpful as rotation players or trade assets.

Then Magic threw at least half of em away for jack **** cuz he's a moron who doesnt know how to work the cap in his futile chase for Kawhi.

To put it in perspective, if Ainge had the Lakers ability to draft consistently well late, BOS would be a dynastic squad (even with Hayward's injury), due to the ability to build an excellent 5-12 roster ON THE CHEAP, after building around Tatum/Brown/FA Superstar/Hayward of course. Ainge could go into full on trader mode and swap useful young CHEAP players like a Kuzma/Hart/Clarkson/Zubac/Wagner/Bryant around as either trade ammo to package for a disgruntled superstar like Kawhi/AD/PG13 (even risking it for 1 year, cuz Ainge can always draft more late gems) or for better more expensive veteran role players.

Conversely, if the Lakers had hit on their #2 picks (Zinger instead of DLo, Ingram was fine, Tatum over Lonzo), along with their ability to draft late, the team would be more godlike with Lebron/AD coming on board. Not to mention would have convinced the team to NOT sign pure trash like Deng/Mozgov as way to get "better" quickly LOL.

LOL, the Celtics would have been a dynasty if Danny Ainge had drafted Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart...
some of the takes on the general board never cease to amaze me hahaha

You want me to go back and list who the Lakers drafted #25+, over the past 5 or so years? I can do that, lemme just copy paste another post i made earlier.

Larry Nance Jr
Jordan Clarkson
Ivica Zubac
Thomas Bryant
Alex Caruso (ok this one is cheating he was a scrap heap pickup and not a draft pick)
Josh Hart
Kyle Kuzma
Moritz Wagner
Svi Mykhailuk
Isaac Bonga
Talen Horton Tucker

Obviously a bunch of misses too, but this list is **** impressive as hell considering theyre all late draft picks. If Ainge could sniff this level of late drafting, Celtics would be godly. Alot of the more recent picks, Magic threw away cuz he was a (Please Use More Appropriate Word), but their talent and skillsets were obvious and they are now showing out on their new teams.

Now are these guys a bunch of all-stars? Hell no, but alot of em are very useful rotation players and when theyre on their rookie scale contracts are excellent trade assets. These are the guys on your roster 4-12th man who can turn a team into a consistent powerhouse, due to giving solid production at bargain bin prices due to being on their rookie deals. Of course you gotta make the right moves for you top 3-4 star big money players (Tatum, Brown, Horford, Kyrie, Hayward, Kemba, etc), but if you have a pipeline of excellent young talent that you're consistently getting late in drafts year after year, your team goes into dynastic mode as long as you pay and retain the right max stars.

Lakers lost a good half of those players cuz Magic was a moron who doesnt know how to manage to cap, and dumped them to clear open cap space for Kawhi, who snubbed us. If we had kept them (Zubac, Bryant, Wagner, Svi, Bonga) on their rookie bargain deals, the Lakers would be **** on the league until Lebron is no longer an all-star caliber player. The amount of trade options the Lakers would have to patch holes using these young guys as trade ammo would be insane.

Which is why BOS didnt make it over the hump, you got great young stars as your top 3-4, but the rest of your roster is trash because Ainge cant draft worth crap in later picks, thus squandering them as they languish on the bench unable to get PT to up their trade value.

[NoZoLakers]

No, drafting those 2 did not "save" the Lakers. But the Lakers ability to draft well late in drafts, gave them the ability to pad out their rosters with useful young players with potential to be really helpful as rotation players or trade assets.

Then Magic threw at least half of em away for jack **** cuz he's a moron who doesnt know how to work the cap in his futile chase for Kawhi.

To put it in perspective, if Ainge had the Lakers ability to draft consistently well late, BOS would be a dynastic squad (even with Hayward's injury), due to the ability to build an excellent 5-12 roster ON THE CHEAP, after building around Tatum/Brown/FA Superstar/Hayward of course. Ainge could go into full on trader mode and swap useful young CHEAP players like a Kuzma/Hart/Clarkson/Zubac/Wagner/Bryant around as either trade ammo to package for a disgruntled superstar like Kawhi/AD/PG13 (even risking it for 1 year, cuz Ainge can always draft more late gems) or for better more expensive veteran role players.

Conversely, if the Lakers had hit on their #2 picks (Zinger instead of DLo, Ingram was fine, Tatum over Lonzo), along with their ability to draft late, the team would be more godlike with Lebron/AD coming on board. Not to mention would have convinced the team to NOT sign pure trash like Deng/Mozgov as way to get "better" quickly LOL.

LOL, the Celtics would have been a dynasty if Danny Ainge had drafted Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart...
some of the takes on the general board never cease to amaze me hahaha

You want me to go back and list who the Lakers drafted #25+, over the past 5 or so years? I can do that, lemme just copy paste another post i made earlier.

Larry Nance Jr
Jordan Clarkson
Ivica Zubac
Thomas Bryant
Alex Caruso (ok this one is cheating he was a scrap heap pickup and not a draft pick)
Josh Hart
Kyle Kuzma
Moritz Wagner
Svi Mykhailuk
Isaac Bonga
Talen Horton Tucker

Obviously a bunch of misses too, but this list is **** impressive as hell considering theyre all late draft picks. If Ainge could sniff this level of late drafting, Celtics would be godly. Alot of the more recent picks, Magic threw away cuz he was a (Please Use More Appropriate Word), but their talent and skillsets were obvious and they are now showing out on their new teams.

Now are these guys a bunch of all-stars? Hell no, but alot of em are very useful rotation players and when theyre on their rookie scale contracts are excellent trade assets. These are the guys on your roster 4-12th man who can turn a team into a consistent powerhouse, due to giving solid production at bargain bin prices due to being on their rookie deals. Of course you gotta make the right moves for you top 3-4 star big money players (Tatum, Brown, Horford, Kyrie, Hayward, Kemba, etc), but if you have a pipeline of excellent young talent that you're consistently getting late in drafts year after year, your team goes into dynastic mode as long as you pay and retain the right max stars.

Lakers lost a good half of those players cuz Magic was a moron who doesnt know how to manage to cap, and dumped them to clear open cap space for Kawhi, who snubbed us. If we had kept them (Zubac, Bryant, Wagner, Svi, Bonga) on their rookie bargain deals, the Lakers would be **** on the league until Lebron is no longer an all-star caliber player. The amount of trade options the Lakers would have to patch holes using these young guys as trade ammo would be insane.

Which is why BOS didnt make it over the hump, you got great young stars as your top 3-4, but the rest of your roster is trash because Ainge cant draft worth crap in later picks, thus squandering them as they languish on the bench unable to get PT to up their trade value.

better to show all of Ainge non lotto picks over the yrs and see how many of em are even in the league anymore lol

[Vae Victus]

This is why analytics and cap management is underrated. People just focus on the big names and big stars, but you gotta do a damn good job of building out the rest of your roster on the cheap if you want consistent greatness. Bang for buck isn't just a barometer for your superstars, you need to maximize it for your role players too.

The draft is so damn important to get that influx of young CHEAP cost controlled talent (plus RFA rights), and you gotta maximize every pick you get, cuz yea, most of em WILL flop. What the Lakers have done drafting wise on their late picks is damn near miraculous at how many have stuck in the NBA after their rookie deals are up.

[robbie84]

No, drafting those 2 did not "save" the Lakers. But the Lakers ability to draft well late in drafts, gave them the ability to pad out their rosters with useful young players with potential to be really helpful as rotation players or trade assets.

Then Magic threw at least half of em away for jack **** cuz he's a moron who doesnt know how to work the cap in his futile chase for Kawhi.

To put it in perspective, if Ainge had the Lakers ability to draft consistently well late, BOS would be a dynastic squad (even with Hayward's injury), due to the ability to build an excellent 5-12 roster ON THE CHEAP, after building around Tatum/Brown/FA Superstar/Hayward of course. Ainge could go into full on trader mode and swap useful young CHEAP players like a Kuzma/Hart/Clarkson/Zubac/Wagner/Bryant around as either trade ammo to package for a disgruntled superstar like Kawhi/AD/PG13 (even risking it for 1 year, cuz Ainge can always draft more late gems) or for better more expensive veteran role players.

Conversely, if the Lakers had hit on their #2 picks (Zinger instead of DLo, Ingram was fine, Tatum over Lonzo), along with their ability to draft late, the team would be more godlike with Lebron/AD coming on board. Not to mention would have convinced the team to NOT sign pure trash like Deng/Mozgov as way to get "better" quickly LOL.

LOL, the Celtics would have been a dynasty if Danny Ainge had drafted Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart...
some of the takes on the general board never cease to amaze me hahaha

You want me to go back and list who the Lakers drafted #25+, over the past 5 or so years? I can do that, lemme just copy paste another post i made earlier.

Larry Nance Jr
Jordan Clarkson
Ivica Zubac
Thomas Bryant
Alex Caruso (ok this one is cheating he was a scrap heap pickup and not a draft pick)
Josh Hart
Kyle Kuzma
Moritz Wagner
Svi Mykhailuk
Isaac Bonga
Talen Horton Tucker

Obviously a bunch of misses too, but this list is **** impressive as hell considering theyre all late draft picks. If Ainge could sniff this level of late drafting, Celtics would be godly. Alot of the more recent picks, Magic threw away cuz he was a (Please Use More Appropriate Word), but their talent and skillsets were obvious and they are now showing out on their new teams.

Now are these guys a bunch of all-stars? Hell no, but alot of em are very useful rotation players and when theyre on their rookie scale contracts are excellent trade assets. These are the guys on your roster 4-12th man who can turn a team into a consistent powerhouse, due to giving solid production at bargain bin prices due to being on their rookie deals. Of course you gotta make the right moves for you top 3-4 star big money players (Tatum, Brown, Horford, Kyrie, Hayward, Kemba, etc), but if you have a pipeline of excellent young talent that you're consistently getting late in drafts year after year, your team goes into dynastic mode as long as you pay and retain the right max stars.

Lakers lost a good half of those players cuz Magic was a moron who doesnt know how to manage to cap, and dumped them to clear open cap space for Kawhi, who snubbed us. If we had kept them (Zubac, Bryant, Wagner, Svi, Bonga) on their rookie bargain deals, the Lakers would be **** on the league until Lebron is no longer an all-star caliber player. The amount of trade options the Lakers would have to patch holes using these young guys as trade ammo would be insane.

Which is why BOS didnt make it over the hump, you got great young stars as your top 3-4, but the rest of your roster is trash because Ainge cant draft worth crap in later picks, thus squandering them as they languish on the bench unable to get PT to up their trade value.

They are all scrubs except Clarkson. lol. You're delusional.
So Ainge has to hit on his lottery picks and his late binkies. Right.

And no, the reason they couldn't get over the hump is because their All Star point guard was playing on a bad knee, and their other All Star caliber wing twisted his ankle and was playing at 75% at most in the ECF.
A full healthy Celtics team makes the finals and potentially beats LA.

Anyway, you're being delusional. Have a nice life.

[robbie84]

LOL, the Celtics would have been a dynasty if Danny Ainge had drafted Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart...
some of the takes on the general board never cease to amaze me hahaha

You want me to go back and list who the Lakers drafted #25+, over the past 5 or so years? I can do that, lemme just copy paste another post i made earlier.

Larry Nance Jr
Jordan Clarkson
Ivica Zubac
Thomas Bryant
Alex Caruso (ok this one is cheating he was a scrap heap pickup and not a draft pick)
Josh Hart
Kyle Kuzma
Moritz Wagner
Svi Mykhailuk
Isaac Bonga
Talen Horton Tucker

Obviously a bunch of misses too, but this list is **** impressive as hell considering theyre all late draft picks. If Ainge could sniff this level of late drafting, Celtics would be godly. Alot of the more recent picks, Magic threw away cuz he was a (Please Use More Appropriate Word), but their talent and skillsets were obvious and they are now showing out on their new teams.

Now are these guys a bunch of all-stars? Hell no, but alot of em are very useful rotation players and when theyre on their rookie scale contracts are excellent trade assets. These are the guys on your roster 4-12th man who can turn a team into a consistent powerhouse, due to giving solid production at bargain bin prices due to being on their rookie deals. Of course you gotta make the right moves for you top 3-4 star big money players (Tatum, Brown, Horford, Kyrie, Hayward, Kemba, etc), but if you have a pipeline of excellent young talent that you're consistently getting late in drafts year after year, your team goes into dynastic mode as long as you pay and retain the right max stars.

Lakers lost a good half of those players cuz Magic was a moron who doesnt know how to manage to cap, and dumped them to clear open cap space for Kawhi, who snubbed us. If we had kept them (Zubac, Bryant, Wagner, Svi, Bonga) on their rookie bargain deals, the Lakers would be **** on the league until Lebron is no longer an all-star caliber player. The amount of trade options the Lakers would have to patch holes using these young guys as trade ammo would be insane.

Which is why BOS didnt make it over the hump, you got great young stars as your top 3-4, but the rest of your roster is trash because Ainge cant draft worth crap in later picks, thus squandering them as they languish on the bench unable to get PT to up their trade value.

They are all scrubs except Clarkson and Caruso. lol. You're delusional. None of those bums gets any team 'over the hump' for a championship.
So Ainge has to hit on his lottery picks and his late binkies. Right. He's just drafted a DPOY candidate and first team all defensive player at #6, drafted Jayson Tatum with #3 after trading down when the Lakers and Philly brass fell into his trap, and drafted Jaylen Brown, who looks like another All Star and All defensive team candidate at #3.
But yeah, those pine pickers you listed are the key to a championship.

And no, the reason the Celtics couldn't get over the hump is because their All Star point guard was playing on a bad knee, and their other veteran All Star caliber wing twisted his ankle and was playing at 75% at most in the ECF.
A full healthy Celtics team makes the finals and potentially beats LA.

[ragesincemdxvi]

Butt hurt San Antonio fans

[NoZoLakers]

You want me to go back and list who the Lakers drafted #25+, over the past 5 or so years? I can do that, lemme just copy paste another post i made earlier.

Larry Nance Jr
Jordan Clarkson
Ivica Zubac
Thomas Bryant
Alex Caruso (ok this one is cheating he was a scrap heap pickup and not a draft pick)
Josh Hart
Kyle Kuzma
Moritz Wagner
Svi Mykhailuk
Isaac Bonga
Talen Horton Tucker

Obviously a bunch of misses too, but this list is **** impressive as hell considering theyre all late draft picks. If Ainge could sniff this level of late drafting, Celtics would be godly. Alot of the more recent picks, Magic threw away cuz he was a (Please Use More Appropriate Word), but their talent and skillsets were obvious and they are now showing out on their new teams.

Now are these guys a bunch of all-stars? Hell no, but alot of em are very useful rotation players and when theyre on their rookie scale contracts are excellent trade assets. These are the guys on your roster 4-12th man who can turn a team into a consistent powerhouse, due to giving solid production at bargain bin prices due to being on their rookie deals. Of course you gotta make the right moves for you top 3-4 star big money players (Tatum, Brown, Horford, Kyrie, Hayward, Kemba, etc), but if you have a pipeline of excellent young talent that you're consistently getting late in drafts year after year, your team goes into dynastic mode as long as you pay and retain the right max stars.

Lakers lost a good half of those players cuz Magic was a moron who doesnt know how to manage to cap, and dumped them to clear open cap space for Kawhi, who snubbed us. If we had kept them (Zubac, Bryant, Wagner, Svi, Bonga) on their rookie bargain deals, the Lakers would be **** on the league until Lebron is no longer an all-star caliber player. The amount of trade options the Lakers would have to patch holes using these young guys as trade ammo would be insane.

Which is why BOS didnt make it over the hump, you got great young stars as your top 3-4, but the rest of your roster is trash because Ainge cant draft worth crap in later picks, thus squandering them as they languish on the bench unable to get PT to up their trade value.

They are all scrubs except Clarkson and Caruso. lol. You're delusional. None of those bums gets any team 'over the hump' for a championship.
So Ainge has to hit on his lottery picks and his late binkies. Right. He's just drafted a DPOY candidate and first team all defensive player at #6, drafted Jayson Tatum with #3 after trading down when the Lakers and Philly brass fell into his trap, and drafted Jaylen Brown, who looks like another All Star and All defensive team candidate at #3.
But yeah, those pine pickers you listed are the key to a championship.

And no, the reason the Celtics couldn't get over the hump is because their All Star point guard was playing on a bad knee, and their other veteran All Star caliber wing twisted his ankle and was playing at 75% at most in the ECF.
A full healthy Celtics team makes the finals and potentially beats LA.

always an excuse for celtics failure lol, if this if that....AD wouldve shat all over the pathetic Bos frontline

[aliasxn]

Im gonna tell u another key to landing AD, we sat all our talented remaining players & then the lakers brought in a GleagueLegend/ringer to deflect the blantant tank and ultimately we lucked out & got the #4 pick in the lottery.

I'm still bummed the Lakers didn't sign this guy, he would've been a fan favorite like Caruso. We sucked anyway, give him 1 year minimum contract.

[Vae Victus]

They are all scrubs except Clarkson and Caruso. lol. You're delusional. None of those bums gets any team 'over the hump' for a championship.
So Ainge has to hit on his lottery picks and his late binkies. Right. He's just drafted a DPOY candidate and first team all defensive player at #6, drafted Jayson Tatum with #3 after trading down when the Lakers and Philly brass fell into his trap, and drafted Jaylen Brown, who looks like another All Star and All defensive team candidate at #3.
But yeah, those pine pickers you listed are the key to a championship.

And no, the reason the Celtics couldn't get over the hump is because their All Star point guard was playing on a bad knee, and their other veteran All Star caliber wing twisted his ankle and was playing at 75% at most in the ECF.
A full healthy Celtics team makes the finals and potentially beats LA.

HAHAHA, you're just clueless. Your ability to critical think and analyze is utterly below par, but i'll try to educate you some more, for the sake of other folks reading this thread. Calling useful cheap players scrubs, is hilarious, and no wonder you're not mad at Ainge for not doing better in building a better roster top to bottom.

No, Ainge, didnt have to hit on ALL of his picks to be a consistent championship winner. He just needed to hit on MORE of them so that he would have trade assets to go after big time disgruntled superstars when they become available, just like what he did with KG and RayRay. Ainge has done a masterful job building up a "war chest" of picks over the years and he's drafted very well at the top of the lotto, forming the core of his current team, that you just listed. HOWEVER the fact you're harping on Ainge's HIGH lotto picks instead of focusing on the abject failure of his ability to pick past the lotto, shows you have no clue what you're trying to debate me about nor have any idea of what i'm trying to explain is a weakness is Ainge's GM game. Other than Rozier at #18 (i think), literally every other non lotto pick Ainge has made in recent memory has basically been useless or mismanaged to the point of turning into trash.

Ainge did a MASTERFUL job raping Billy King and Bryan Colangelo and it set the team up for years of contention. Sadly Ainge's weaknesses had him squander all that accumulated draft capital as he literally couldnt draft anyone worth a damn for years, other than what he got from raping King and Colangelo of high lotto picks. Thus providing ZERO help, as Ainge cant make ANY meaningful trades without touching those core pieces. Especially when they needed it the most in covering for Hayward's horrific injury and Kyrie's stupidity, when they were so damn close to the cusp of winning championships after reaching ECF twice.