If Bynum had gone to college

[Penberthy]

If Bynum had gone to college for four years, he would be entering his second year in the NBA. I know, I know, you all think he would have been one and done, but that is not the point of this hypothetical. Afterall, Duncan stayed all four years, and Bynum is no Duncan, so who knows.

During these long summer days, I wanted to pose a hypothetical, so if you are not interested in answering, just move on to another thread.

If Bynum had played four years of college:
-how many knee surgeries would he have gotten by this point in time (serious question, im not being mean)

-what kind of stats would he have put up in college

-would he have been drafted #1 above blake griffen last year

-would he be a better or worse player than he is now

feel free to add any additional questions

[Jase]

All relative questions. It would depend on where he went to college, it would depend on his health..... Total crap shoot no matter how you look at it.

[laduane1]

He might not even have started his first year. He came out of high school out of shape and lost a lot of weight. He went for the money and has yet to prove he can remain healthy. Shows sometimes he can be an allstar that gets hurt and takes the rest of the year to get better. Like Manny is doing for the Dodgers.

[Sashobe]

If he went to college, then we would have gotten Danny Granger.

[It_Was_Typed]

Hasheem Thabeet wouldn't have gone to UCONN then.

[The Skyhook]

I also don't think a school would have invested as much time in Bynum as the Lakers did. The Lakers had Kareem personally train and mentor Bynum. When the Lakers drafted Bynum he was very raw. I don't think he played organized ball until sometime around high school. Like someone above me said Bynum probably wouldn't have started and I think he would have been in school anywhere between 2 and 4 years. Once Bynum was a proven starter on the college level I think he would have made the jump to the NBA.

You also posed a question about Bynum's surgeries. I don't think too many NBA teams would of taken the gamble on Bynum if he was coming into the NBA with 2 knee surgeries. Had he never got hurt in college its still hard to judge where he could have went. I think Kareem's training had a lot to do with Bynum's development.

[iamworthy]

I also don't think a school would have invested as much time in Bynum as the Lakers did. The Lakers had Kareem personally train and mentor Bynum. When the Lakers drafted Bynum he was very raw. I don't think he played organized ball until sometime around high school. Like someone above me said Bynum probably wouldn't have started and I think he would have been in school anywhere between 2 and 4 years. Once Bynum was a proven starter on the college level I think he would have made the jump to the NBA.

You also posed a question about Bynum's surgeries. I don't think too many NBA teams would of taken the gamble on Bynum if he was coming into the NBA with 2 knee surgeries. Had he never got hurt in college its still hard to judge where he could have went. I think Kareem's training had a lot to do with Bynum's development.

+1 People forget, Bynum pretty much didnt participate with the team for some or most of practices. He was on the side working with KAJ on his game. The one on one tutoring he got from the Captian was huge.

[DEEP3CL]

If he went to college, then we would have gotten Danny Granger.

Which means we would've never gotten Ron Ron.........DG has the 3 spot on lock. A change of events could've altered everything we've done over the last 4 years.

[TyCobb]

If he would have went to college, he wouldn't have two rings and be this famous.

[Lakeshow2417]

if he went to college he wouldnt of made it to teh NBA because of his injury proneness

[laduane1]

Or be making over 10 million a year for the next 3 years.

[nk9]

I do think Bynum would be a more promising player had he gone to college, but you do have to remember this. If he didn't go down with that first knee injury back in 2007-08, we might not have even traded for Pau Gasol.

[BigLos2010]

If Bynum went to college, you'd have to figure at least one knee surgery. Ifit was a sever injury, he doesn't go over Blake Griffin last year, but would have gone over Thabeet.

You guys more than likely would have drafted Granger, though you may just as likely have drafted Fran Vasquez. That's the problem with hypotheticals.

I'm a Bulls fan as well as a Laker fan. Had the NBA not instituted the high school rule the year they did, the Bulls might have ended up with Kevin Durant. You can use hypotheticals for anything.

[Dr Aki]

or we might have insisted we cant deal marc gasol and substituted sun yue if mitch was persuasive enough.

all hypotheticals.

but the surest one is that the lakers would have danny granger instead of bynum.

[Sofa King]

Bynum may not have gotten injured in college. Tough to say.

Greg Oden did have his share of injuries in college but was still the number one pick. And now he's has the reputation of being Mr. Glass in the NBA.

College would have been great for Bynum to just grow up and mature on his own. In the early years in the league, Bynum did not play much but was still expected to be a pro.

I think the Lakers and Jimmy Buss drafting Bynum could have gone in the category of the Kwame Brown, Michael Olowokandi route. For me, the reason that did not happen because the organization and coaches were able to develop Bynum into a solid center in the league. We expected greatness from Bynum and he's shown he's making an effort to live up to it. Sometimes you just need a little luck to be good.

[brandonkb8]

geez i cant wait for at least training camp to start...Summer threads are horrible lol.

[H00PDREAMS]

Jerry Buss - That Bynum kid is our ONLY hope...

Phil Jackson - No Jerry there is yet another....









Jerry West - Oooh! No you don't! I called dibs!

[hermes]

he would have gotten a degree is mechanical engineering

[wallsfamily]

I know that this is not what Laker fans want to hear but I think the constant mumbling about what Bynum is not is getting old. The lakers would not have beaten the celtics without bynum. The lakers would not have beaten the Magic without bynum. Here is a suggestion: how about Marvin Williams and Pachulia for Bynum with some picks as well so that you will no longer have to worry about your horrible center. As a basketball coach the things that bynum does wins games soft touch, high percentage, block shots, takes up space. And remember when Gasol was injured at the beginning of the year Bynum was around 20-10 and 28 other teams except Orlando will take that any day of the week. Oh yeah the four games won against the Celtics were productive healthy games for Bynum interesting coincidence. One other thing the last playoff the Lakers were without Bynum they were spanked by boston mainly because of inside toughness!

[Grime_Wizard]

he would have gotten a degree is mechanical engineering

lol, thats random