Wolves vs Lakers

[JR Rider]

A more aggressive defensive strategy and sharper rotations would go a whole lot further than any defensive big in the draft. The Wolves are a bad defensive team not because they lack a true 5, but because they aren't sharp with their coverages or rotations. They need to work on fronting the post and tagging from behind, doubling down from the nail rather than the passer (which is a big wtf to me), and building a wall from the weak-side. This would simply force the opposition into harder contested shots, and the defense would improve vastly as a result. It's a young learning team which has a lot to do with it as well, but at some point they need to communicate and execute their coverages.

I like this analysis. I agree with really everything here.

[Worm Guts]

Kobe wasn't a lottery pick if I recall, nor was Bynum

Kobe Bryant was taken 13th, I'm not sure if that was lottery at the time, but he was drafted back when high school players fell in the draft just because they were high schoolers. And like a previous poster said, he said he would only play for New York or LA.
Bynum was taken 10th overall, and he was a lottery pick.

[shrink]

Kobe wasn't a lottery pick if I recall, nor was Bynum

Kobe Bryant was taken 13th, I'm not sure if that was lottery at the time, but he was drafted back when high school players fell in the draft just because they were high schoolers. And like a previous poster said, he said he would only play for New York or LA.
Bynum was taken 10th overall, and he was a lottery pick.

You're right . .13th was the last lottery pick in 1996, and Bynum was 10th in 2005. If you're interested, here's a handy site I enjoyed poking through:

http://www.nba.com/history/lottery_picks.html

My point though is whether Kobe was 13th, 14th, or whatever. It was that all the franchise players aren't so easy to find. Sure, you could tell with LeBron at #1 and there was little uncertainy there, but the Lakers had Kobe develop into one, and Bynum (while I wouldn't put him in that class), appears to be worth far more than a #10 pick. For example, Potapenko and Todd Fuller were both picked directly in front of Kobe at #13, so at the time of the pick, people weren't saying "This guy's a sure-fire franchise player. Teams can do their scouting, but there's a lot of uncertainty and luck involved in the process. This is magnified in the Lakers case, because both Kobe and Bynum were drafted in their teens, straight out of high school.

[younggunsmn]

If Bynum had gone to one year of college like Oden did he would have had just as much hype and went #1 overall too. Going into that Draft Bynum's size and athletic potential led most to believe he had franchise-player potential. His poor work ethic and soft body at the time led to him slipping.

The point is those guys had the rare potential to be franchise players. For every Kobe there is a JR Smith or a JR Rider (or 10). For every Bynum there's a Sene or a Petro or a Bowie (or 4), but there also might be a Bosh or KG. You never land one of those guys if you never take a chance on one.