Lakers Now With 30 Losses - Most in Western Conference

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Let's keep this party rolling...if we keep it up at this pace we will most certainly land a top 5 pick. Kobe needs to rest as long as possible and Nash needs to scratch this year off of his resume. Lakers need to trade Gasol to the Suns for Okafor, and our tank will be in full throttle once we start Sacre full-time.

The one player that worries me who might hurt the tank is Farmar----most of our guys don't care about the tank because they're in contract years anyway, but Farmar was balling early in the year and we were getting wins. He and Blake need to take their sweet ole time as well.

Those Raptor and Celtic wins really hurt the tank, but we're almost back on track now after last nights loss.

*Side note = Ryan Kelly is REALLY helping the tank, airballing and bricking almost every jumper and the best part about it is that D'Antoni is in love with him because he can "shoot." Please keep it up guys, and don't like Hill get anywhere near starters minutes because that actually might lead to wins.

[Beethoven]

Problem is, if you're focus is on losses to obtain a 'favorable pick', even if we are last in the West we have 5 other teams beating us out in the East. Probabilistic- wise they will end up with higher picks than us.

on a side note..
Looking at our team, we have several top high picks. Naming Wesley Johnson and Jordan Hill as two of them both drafted 4 and 8. And also a few years under their belt for development. Have they propelled us in any way?

"Tanking" to obtain a favorable pick does not guarantee 1) a high pick 2) the high pick becoming a prominent player, let alone the first couple of years.
Tanking mentaliy basically just reveals a defeatist attitude in a fan.

[TonyMontana]

This guy!!!

Thats why it's called a lottery. All we need is ONE ball TOP 5!! FTW

[jigga_man]

Problem is, if you're focus is on losses to obtain a 'favorable pick', even if we are last in the West we have 5 other teams beating us out in the East. Probabilistic- wise they will end up with higher picks than us.

on a side note..
Looking at our team, we have several top high picks. Naming Wesley Johnson and Jordan Hill as two of them both drafted 4 and 8. And also a few years under their belt for development. Have they propelled us in any way?

"Tanking" to obtain a favorable pick does not guarantee 1) a high pick 2) the high pick becoming a prominent player, let alone the first couple of years.
Tanking mentaliy basically just reveals a defeatist attitude in a fan.

All those 5 teams are on current losing streaks. All of them with the exception of Milwaukee and maybe Orlando are within striking distance with only 1-2 games. Lakers could be #3 within a week easily. There is no way you can draw conclusions this early. And naming a couple of busts (8th isn't that much of a high pick and very few players are putting up Jordan's numbers as efficiently in 20mpg or less) doesn't mean anything. I could name a couple of top 5 picks (Durant, LeBron) and conclude how important they are. Either argument is flawed either way.

Tanking does guarantee a high pick. That's how the lottery works. When you finish in a specific position you can only drop so far. Most likely the Bucks are guaranteed Top 4.
What is the opposite of a a defeatist attitude? Rooting for the team who won't make the playoffs to do.... what? What should be the goal this season? I think a more defeatist attitude is hoping for a team that sucks to finish with a 30 win season.

[The Laker Kid]

Why is everyone here in love with Embiid? Why not Wiggins? Just wondering..

[LApwnd]

Problem is, if you're focus is on losses to obtain a 'favorable pick', even if we are last in the West we have 5 other teams beating us out in the East. Probabilistic- wise they will end up with higher picks than us.

on a side note..
Looking at our team, we have several top high picks. Naming Wesley Johnson and Jordan Hill as two of them both drafted 4 and 8. And also a few years under their belt for development. Have they propelled us in any way?

"Tanking" to obtain a favorable pick does not guarantee 1) a high pick 2) the high pick becoming a prominent player, let alone the first couple of years.
Tanking mentaliy basically just reveals a defeatist attitude in a fan.

we're not tanking, we're just not that good there's a BIG difference, these guys are trying hard out there they're just not good enough. Just cause Hill/Wes are lottery pick that haven't panned doesn't mean they are the end all and be all of examples of lottery picks not amounting to much. Adding a high pick and picking the RIGHT players and then ADDING through FA correctly will get you out of the bottom feeder group, it is teams who continously suck year in and year out that seem to be in the lottery every year are the ones who are doing it wrong. As for the East, there are 2 teams that you can't out tank, Orl/Bucks...the rest of bottom feeding east is in the same range of loses as us.

[TruSkool]

the lakers can try to win all they want. they dont need to try to tank. they're going to have a good lottery pick.

[Michael Lucky]

Why is everyone here in love with Embiid? Why not Wiggins? Just wondering..

Because he looks like the best Center prospect to come out of the draft in fiteen years or so. Although i'd be more comfortable drafting Wiggins as well. Less risk of chronic injury.

[Michael Lucky]

Problem is, if you're focus is on losses to obtain a 'favorable pick', even if we are last in the West we have 5 other teams beating us out in the East. Probabilistic- wise they will end up with higher picks than us.

on a side note..
Looking at our team, we have several top high picks. Naming Wesley Johnson and Jordan Hill as two of them both drafted 4 and 8. And also a few years under their belt for development. Have they propelled us in any way?

"Tanking" to obtain a favorable pick does not guarantee 1) a high pick 2) the high pick becoming a prominent player, let alone the first couple of years.
Tanking mentaliy basically just reveals a defeatist attitude in a fan.

we're not tanking, we're just not that good there's a BIG difference, these guys are trying hard out there they're just not good enough. Just cause Hill/Wes are lottery pick that haven't panned doesn't mean they are the end all and be all of examples of lottery picks not amounting to much. Adding a high pick and picking the RIGHT players and then ADDING through FA correctly will get you out of the bottom feeder group, it is teams who continously suck year in and year out that seem to be in the lottery every year are the ones who are doing it wrong. As for the East, there are 2 teams that you can't out tank, Orl/Bucks...the rest of bottom feeding east is in the same range of loses as us.

Orlando has more talent than the Lakers so i can definitely see us outtanking them. The two teams that we likely cannot outtank are the Celtics (will be very hard, their roster is god awful), and the Bucks (they've already won the worst record)

[BEazy]

Big men are the center piece to a franchise. Wing players come and go. Embiid over Wiggins any day of the week.

[digcom]

i've never been a fan of the word "tank". to me, it connotes losing on purpose.

"rebuild" sounds better. it's a more optimistic view of the future.

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Problem is, if you're focus is on losses to obtain a 'favorable pick', even if we are last in the West we have 5 other teams beating us out in the East. Probabilistic- wise they will end up with higher picks than us.

on a side note..
Looking at our team, we have several top high picks. Naming Wesley Johnson and Jordan Hill as two of them both drafted 4 and 8. And also a few years under their belt for development. Have they propelled us in any way?

"Tanking" to obtain a favorable pick does not guarantee 1) a high pick 2) the high pick becoming a prominent player, let alone the first couple of years.
Tanking mentaliy basically just reveals a defeatist attitude in a fan.

Casual fans don't understand the in's and out's of the NBA.

Yes, tanking does guarantee a high pick. Does it guarantee the #1 pick? Of course not. There are 6-7 great prospects in this draft who have shown that they will be much better than Wesley Johnson or Jordan Hill. Those guys (Johnson & Hill) did not dominate in college, they simply showed athletic ability which leads to potential.

Of course I have a defeatist attitude...we have one of the worst teams in the league, playing some of the worst ball since the New Year. Gotta find a positive in every situation, and we're lucky our team has the Cap Space to add a free agent next to a great rookie.

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Why is everyone here in love with Embiid? Why not Wiggins? Just wondering..

I'm a huge fan of the top 5 prospects...Embiid, Wiggins, Parker, Smart, Randle/Exum. Any of those guys added to the Lakers + a FA signing + a rested Kobe is easily a much better team then we have now + the future is much brighter.

Mitch has proven he can add a quality bench while being over the salary cap.

[NBAWestFan]

Why is everyone here in love with Embiid? Why not Wiggins? Just wondering..

Because he looks like the best Center prospect to come out of the draft in fiteen years or so. Although i'd be more comfortable drafting Wiggins as well. Less risk of chronic injury.

There is just as much Chance a wing gets injured the way they fly these days as Embiid.

#1 is Embiid
#2 That is the question. Parker or Wiggins
#3 Wiggins or Parker
#4 Another question? Smart, Randle Exum - Dependes on the need of the each team.

We need to be in the top 4 to get a 10% chance or in reality the bottom standings.

No more than 4 more wins or 20 total will be in a good position.

Yes i agree with another post all the bottom teams are tanking now that they know it
is the smart thing to do. Some may win a few here and there but they are in tank mode.

[Michael Lucky]

Big men are the center piece to a franchise. Wing players come and go. Embiid over Wiggins any day of the week.

sure if we're still living in the 90s. The three best players in the NBA are SFs and PG. In fact not a true center is even a top 10 NBA player right now. The game has evolved and while i'm absolutely in love with Embiid's upside i'm far more cautious with taking him with our pick than I would be with Wiggins and Parker.

[AI]

Why is everyone here in love with Embiid? Why not Wiggins? Just wondering..

Well, to me he's a more exciting prospect than Wiggins. Lakers tradition has always focused on centers too, so add that as well.

[EArl]

They cannot stop the metal.... err I mean Tank


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR7U1HIhxfA[/youtube]

[One Love]

Embid is OVER rated... The two players that will have the BIGGEST impact in the NBA are Parker (6'8" next Melo that plays defense and shares the ball) & Exum (6'6" PG next Carter Wiliams with a lightening quick first step and court vision)... The consunsus TOP 5 is as follows:

1. Parker
2. Wiggin
3. Embid
4. Randle
5. Exum

The only two players that are FRANCHISE PLAYERS are Parker & Exum (Wiggins is struggling in college)... I have a feeling Exum will drop to us & we will pick at #4...

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Another factor we should be aware of is that D'Antoni probably wouldn't be a fan of Embiid one bit...would probably sit him behind Ryan Kelly because he can't "shoot."

Wiggins is my dream pick because he has the potential to be the most athletic player in the league. He reminds me of Paul George so much, just a bit shorter.

[Michael Lucky]

Embid is OVER rated... The two players that will have the BIGGEST impact in the NBA are Parker (6'8" next Melo that plays defense and shares the ball) & Exum (6'6" PG next Carter Wiliams with a lightening quick first step and court vision)... The consunsus TOP 5 is as follows:

1. Parker
2. Wiggin
3. Embid
4. Randle
5. Exum

The only two players that are FRANCHISE PLAYERS are Parker & Exum (Wiggins is struggling in college)... I have a feeling Exum will drop to us & we will pick at #4...

Parker has been struggling far more in conference play than Wiggins. Not sure either where you got this idea that Parker plays defense. He's a horrible defender.