CodyB_ wrote:PockyCandy wrote:CodyB_ wrote:What do Lakers fans think of moving the Number 2 pick for someone like Nerlens Noel?
I'm high on him. While his per was only average this year, you can tell by watching him that he is going to be a Gobert level defender in a few years time. He is 7'0 with a massive standing reach and the agility of a guard. He also shows decent touch on his jumper out past 15 feet. When that improves he'll be a prototypical big man for the 'New Nba'.
After that, the Lakers focus on finding an offensive game changer like KD or Russ Westbrook and the others bits will come together. KD is close to maturity and once he is healthy again he is going to be a monster, I think the Lakers are in a position to put a championship team around him. Westbrook I think is fools gold.
I'd think about it, and then realize that Okafor has the best post game since Tim Duncan and that you don't pass that up for an offensively-challenged big.
The NBA right now is officially favouring (by way of the rules) guard play. Post play has almost disappeared as a mainstay of any offense and you're starting to see guards get higher TS% than big men. Okafor is a great player, extremely gifted as a post operator but this NBA won't allow him to function as such. His lack of defense will make him a fringe +- player if he plays starters minutes. He will be the starting Centre on a treadmill team.
Someone like Nerlens Noel will play a similar role to Tyson Chandler or Andrew Bogut. Statistically nothing much to write home about, but absolute game changers. The thing is Noel, is going to better than either ever was. He has better athleticism, quicker hands and shows promise on his stroke.
Anyways, just a thought. The more I see of Okafor, however, the less I like. I think Towns will be much better.
The following is my humble opinion on how people may be overstating that we must adapt to the NBA being guard centric:
I think too much has been said about the type of play changing to more guard centric. I'm not really sure what rules are there that dissuades players from posting up, however, I believe the shift in play has more to do with big guys getting more athletic and even lanky at times and trying to shoot too much from the outside. Lets face it, everyone, even bigs just want to shoot from outside or drive to the hoop. Nobody wants to learn the "boring", slow it down type of game. But the fact is, those are still the highest percentage shots and will give you the most chances of getting points on the board.
Furthermore, I believe that today's NBA has been forced to evolve because of the lack of dominant big men. Lets face it, after Shaq and Duncan, there is no real dominant big man who can dominate the paint. The hope was for Howard and to an extent, Bynum, but we saw how both situations developed. Bynum is gone and Dwight is still just so-so on offense. Best traditional big right now, would probably be Marc Gasol who is not really on the superstar level like Shaq or Kareem to be able to carry a team on his back. If we look around the league, the other best bigs would be LMA, Blake Griffin maybe even include Z-bo and Al Jefferson. Niche defensive guys like DeAndre Jordan are already considered as elite even if they don't have an offensive game.
If we have a chance to grab a great postup guy like Okafor, it should be a no brainer because his potential on that aspect of the game is much much higher than anyone else and would give us a look that no other teams would be able to give. If he develops to his potential, you cannot find a guy who would even be 70% as good as he is on the block. On the other hand, you would be happy if a guard like Russell turns out to be near guys like Curry and Harden and you could even argue that guys like Dragic, Derek Rose, Damian Lillard are all within 80-90% of what guys like Curry and Harden can do.
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