Embiid Noel & Russell vs Okafor Randle & Clarkson vs Towns Wiggins & Levine

[TaylorTag]

I understand wolves fans want to include their whole team however your whole starting lineup isn't gonna make the Allstar team or even be great players. I picked who I thought best fit the mold.

Plus, Muhammad plays the same position as Wiggins, so, down the road, it's not like they are projected to see the court at the same time.

Having said that, Wiggins did look really good at the 2 when he did share the court with Muhammad. So maybe we will see a Rubio/Wiggins/Muhammad/KG/Towns lineup to start the season.

Having said that, I think Flip likes Lavine as an off-guard and it seems like he is content with Wiggins playing SF.

[HeartBreakKid]

Even replacing Lavine with Muhammad, this would still go to Philly pretty easily.

[TaylorTag]

Even replacing Lavine with Muhammad, this would still go to Philly pretty easily.

Yeah. I voted Wolves, but I quickly realized I messed up. If all the guys the OP listed live up to their expectations--nothing more, but nothing less--then I think Philly has the better trio.

Wiggins and Towns could potentially be the best 1,2 combo.

I think Wolves have significantly more assets than Philly though.

[ImChillin01]

Noel is the best defensive prospect I've ever seen and in his rookie season he played good enough to make the Sixers defense go from 26th to 13th. I think he's a generational talent and he had a 20 PER after All-Star break already. Don't be surprised if he's having 25 PER seasons with under 18 PPG in the future. This combination of a possible outside shooting and passing monster of a PG, generational defender at PF, and overall great big at C is amazing.

Not even 76ers fans have called him that, those are big words man.

[JB2]

Seeing as 4 of 6 of these players have either never played in the NBA or are not even in the NBA, this thread is way premature. Not too mention, who knows who drafts who, who trades who, etc.

That said, Clarkson did out play Lavine in just about every facet this season but both have a lot of room for improvement. I will admit that as a Laker fan I wanted Lavine over Randle but Randle did show flashes of what could be a special player in the pre-season, particularly against GS, Portland, Sacramento. His combination of handles, size, speed, and power make him a very tough cover. Philly has the best prospect of them all in Embiid and if healthy he's going to be at worst a top 5 C. He was the guy I wanted to fall to 7 in the last draft.

All in all, as a Laker fan, it's exciting that we're even in this conversation. 8 months ago everyone though our future was in shambles yet here we are comparing good young cores against teams that have been in the lottery for the past several years. Exciting times ahead for all 3 franchises.

[E-Balla]

Noel is the best defensive prospect I've ever seen and in his rookie season he played good enough to make the Sixers defense go from 26th to 13th. I think he's a generational talent and he had a 20 PER after All-Star break already. Don't be surprised if he's having 25 PER seasons with under 18 PPG in the future. This combination of a possible outside shooting and passing monster of a PG, generational defender at PF, and overall great big at C is amazing.

Not even 76ers fans have called him that, those are big words man.

Well I've been saying it since before he was drafted by them and being a fan of a team shouldn't affect how you feel about a player anyway. I'll just say he's the best defensive freshman I've ever seen and the best defensive 20 year old I've ever seen. He has a long way to go but he's off to a good start.

[TaylorTag]

All in all, as a Laker fan, it's exciting that we're even in this conversation. 8 months ago everyone though our future was in shambles yet here we are comparing good young cores against teams that have been in the lottery for the past several years. Exciting times ahead for all 3 franchises.

I live in LA and yeah I am happy for Laker fans that the lottery went well. Yet I don't think we are comparing "cores" here. The Lakers will have 3 good assets come draft day. The Wolves will have 6...

[JB2]

All in all, as a Laker fan, it's exciting that we're even in this conversation. 8 months ago everyone though our future was in shambles yet here we are comparing good young cores against teams that have been in the lottery for the past several years. Exciting times ahead for all 3 franchises.

I live in LA and yeah I am happy for Laker fans that the lottery went well. Yet I don't think we are comparing "cores" here. The Lakers will have 3 good assets come draft day. The Wolves will have 6...

True but the topic was about 3 vs 3 vs 3. Philly has Saric also. Tarik Black is a asset to us as well.

[TaylorTag]

All in all, as a Laker fan, it's exciting that we're even in this conversation. 8 months ago everyone though our future was in shambles yet here we are comparing good young cores against teams that have been in the lottery for the past several years. Exciting times ahead for all 3 franchises.

I live in LA and yeah I am happy for Laker fans that the lottery went well. Yet I don't think we are comparing "cores" here. The Lakers will have 3 good assets come draft day. The Wolves will have 6...

True but the topic was about 3 vs 3 vs 3. Philly has Saric also. Tarik Black is a asset to us as well.

Ha, yeah we've been arguing for pages about the semantics of this topic. Nevertheless, it's been a reality since the All-Star break that the Lakers were going to have Clarkson, Randle, plus a Top-5 draft pick (I refused to believe the Lakers would get screwed out of a pick).

I guess I just have a problem with this part of your post:

here we are comparing good young cores against teams that have been in the lottery for the past several years.

Wolves: Rubio, Lavine, Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, Adrien Payne, #1 overall pick

Lakers: Clarkson, Randle, Black, #2 overall pick


Not worthy of a comparison.

EDIT: I know Payne isn't exactly a blue-chip asset. But he was a late lottery pick this year, so maybe he develops in year 2

[igglez]

Easy, there's only one player in this whole group who has all time great written all over him, and that's embiid. Add in Noel's defensive dominance (along with embiids), and developing offensive game, and Russell, and it's clear to me. Okafor has one above average skill, just one. His defense, rebounding, mid range game, and free throws, are all terrible, way below average. My list goes.... Embiid, Wiggins, towns(could end up like Sam Perkins if his motor doesn't pick up), Noel, Russell, lavine, okafor, randle, clarkson.

How does the guy who's the most injury prone out of the group have all time great written on him? Even if he manages to stay healthy at this point they'll have to manage his mins. As far as Okafor rebounding goes how is it terrible with him avging 8.5 Rebs? Cmon your post sounds bias. At least Okafor is a dominant scorer Embiid would be lucky to play 30 mpg with him avging almost 4 fouls in 20 mins or if his body will hold up for that amount of mins over an 82 game season

Embiids per 40... 19pts 15reb 5blk 1.5stl. Anthony Davis per 40 in college.... 17pts 13reb 6blk 1.5stl. Take those numbers and then look at the film, his skills are all time great skills, period. Okafor played 32min, is 7' 260, and LIVES in the paint, and only averaged 8reb!! That's pathetic. He has no motor, plays no defense, terrible ft shooter, no mid range game, and a pathetic rebounder. He's a trick pony, plain and simple, al Jefferson without the motor.

[psualltheway5]

Wow. Where to begin.

OP just looks foolish because the poll has apparently backfired on him.

Lakers fans REALLY overvalue Clarkson.

Someone actually said if "Kobe gives his approval, Russell will be an all-time great"

To answer the question, the Sixers and Timberwolves are in such a better position, it isn't even close. Both teams have insane Offensive and Defensive upside. The Lakers' trio has severe spacing issues, poor defensive fits, and no rim protection.

[igglez]

I've done massive research on embiid and his injury. Bones are constantly regenerating, and adapting to the pounding we put on them. When embiid started playing 5 years ago, he introduced his bones to a new pounding, and for a man his size, he needed rest, and let the bones adapt, and regenerate to get stronger. With his school schedule, AAU, summer tourneys, he never took a break, hence the fracture. Bill Walton and yao, both came back too quickly, and yao played too much, always going to China to play after the NBA season, two big no no's for men their size. Walton also only had converse chucks to wear for sneakers, or something like it, no support at all. The Sixer's, even though embiids been healthy since January, didn't play him. They allowed the bones to fully heal, and get stronger, then slowly reintroduced basketball activities to his bones, allowing them to regenerate, and adapt slowly to the pounding that basketball pts on them. They've also done their research, and have had a sneaker made that protects the bones, as well as can possibly be done. The risk of reinjury is 8%. He'll be fine.

[Crazy-Canuck]

Philly
Minny
LAL

I think it is pretty cut and dry.

While the top 2 players from the 6ers and Wolves are comparable, Russell vs Lavine isnt.

Lakers are a distant third. Id probably put a few teams like the Magic and Jazz ahead of them too.

Please explain why you believe this. Are you certain he's a PG at the NBA level?

no, but he is easily the better basketball player.

the only advantages lavine has on russell is athleticism and dunking ability.

[laika]

The risk of reinjury is 8%. He'll be fine.

It's impossible to be anywhere close to that precise.

[laika]

Among the best defensive players in the league last season; Draymond Green, Kawhi Leonard, and him were only players in top 10 of DBPM, DWS, and DRtg.

Gobert, Duncan and Gasol also did that. Noel did not.

My mistake, Gobert and Duncan as well, Gasol did not, Noel did.

DWS- Green tied 2nd, Leonard 1st, Noel tied 10th, Gobert tied 7th, Duncan tied 3rd, Gasol tied 3rd
DBPM- Green 6th, Leonard 10th, Noel 5th, Gobert 2nd, Duncan 3rd, Gasol 9th
DRtg - Green tied 6th, Leonard 1st, Noel 10th, Gobert 9th, Duncan 4th, Gasol 19th

Exact Defensive Ratings can be found on RealGM.

Was looking at this site-
http://www.basketball-reference.com/lea ... aders.html
Are the rankings different due to a different minutes cutoff?

[colman38]

We haven't seen like half of these players play and the others have still got to show they can bring their games to the next level before anything else so it hard to rank them.

Sixers: I have a lot of questions about the two bigs playing together and I worry about Russell's flaws, but they clearly come out on top assuming the players pan out. We've only seen one of these guys play so its hard to say.

Timberwolves: I'm really not a fan of LaVine, and Wiggins had a nice rookie season. I'm not really sure if the Timberwolves will go with Towns, but that team would be full ton of potential.

Lakers: While Towns is a better fit next to Randle, a Randle-Okafor combination would have the potential to be extremely dangerous on the offensive end. I feel that Clarkson has potential to be a very nice player once he gets a more consistent 3 point shot, but he needs to prove himself with another season of work first.

[wablty]

Philly
Minny
LAL

I think it is pretty cut and dry.

While the top 2 players from the 6ers and Wolves are comparable, Russell vs Lavine isnt.

Lakers are a distant third. Id probably put a few teams like the Magic and Jazz ahead of them too.

Please explain why you believe this. Are you certain he's a PG at the NBA level?

no, but he is easily the better basketball player.

the only advantages lavine has on russell is athleticism and dunking ability.

Russell seems to be a better shooter (from college), though LaVine was good in catch and shoot settings. He's only a poor shooter off the bounce. He's also an effective (albeit somewhat unwilling) slasher, though he seemed more apt to go to the hole later in the season. LaVine was a terrible PG, but his splits when playing with a real point guard indicate that by the 2nd half of the season, when allowed to play his natural 2, he's already probably above replacement. I wouldn't automatically assume Russell will be better going forward.

[Grits n Gravy]

From a biased Wolves fan I think Okafor and Randle are a horrific fit defensively and I think Noel and Emblid is a bad fit offensively.

[BIG_controversy]

Ppl think it's a foregone conclusion that Lakers will draft Okafor. Clarkson, Russell & Randle change the dyamics of the discussion bc then the Lakers would have the best future backcourt in the league next to Wall & Beal. If Randle can have an impact offensively what Draymond Green is defensively as a "Value Forward" than the Lakers would clearly have the highest ceiling offensively.

Young backcourts I'd take over Clarkson/Russell:
Wall/Beal (as you mentioned)
MCW/Middleton
Rose/Butler (Rose still only 26)
Oladipo/Payton
Jrue Holiday/Evans
Splash Brothers (only 27 and 25)

Maybe a few others after this draft as well.

Jimmy Butler is more of a SF than a SG.

Payton can't shoot one lick

Tyreke only starts when Gordon or Holiday is hurt. So the NO backcourt is really Holiday/Gordon

MCW & Middleton have A LOT of potential. Russell has a higher ceiling over them at this juncture.

[reignfire]

Wiggins/Towns would be the best 1/2 punch. You got your wing scorer/defender in Wiggins, and the defensive anchor and stretch guy in Towns.

Embiid is the best prospect of all, but Noel and pretty much just a defense guy.

Lakers core is too offense oriented.