Danny Darko wrote:no way in hell Mudiay goes #1... Not even sure I want to have to choose between the 2 bigs as nice a luxury as it is. At least if the Wolves choose a big we just say "we got the guy that was there" and don't have to hear "Can you believe the Lakers whiffed on XXX instead of choosing the superior center in the draft"
Why no way in hell?
He was better than them in high school, quite easily better than them and Russell to the point that if that bs one year rule wasn't in he would've been number 1. He is the guy amongst them who has shown he knows what its like to travel, to have money, to play minutes, and a be a professional. You can say well he got hurt or didn't go daffy with the numbers, but his numbers for a 18 year old playing with a language barrier and his work to come back were praised by his teammates and people in china as he did everything he could to comeback and be part of the team to the point they were calling him their brother by the end of it. Towns has never played big minutes and he didn't even average double digits, Okafor admittedly was over weight and struggled vs the true big guys he faced in the tourney, and russellwestbrook as shut down by teams with nba like 2/3 who were athletes. Muiday at least got his numbers vs grown men, showed he could act like a professional and didn't get caught up in the money and party scene, and had been praised by a real nba coach. The wolves also have a pg who who much like Love and Al Jefferson before him hasn't panned out, whose numbers haven't resulted in wins, and could say oh well let's try to win games and be exciting with the OKC model. Make Muidayt the pg, lavine the SG since he was the leagues worst defensive 1, make the rookie of the year wiggins the SF, and develop Dieng into a full time starter ala Ibaka with Pek/KG as the vets and Shabazz as the hybrid tweener forward ala Jeff Green. It fits the current style of nba, and Muiday has every bit the talent, if not more than those other 3 in the draft and has showed it time and time again. Hell he may outright kill them in the workouts.
I'm just saying Muiday and Russell could go 1 & 2 .... Especially of GSW wins it all since the fre agent market has multiple talented starting C's. You can discount it all you want but the laker way has never been to draft the C. It's to buy a C who has proven he can get numbers and be healthy. We draft the damn G or perimeter guy 9-10 times. Kobe, Eddie, Nick, Magic, Worthy, West, Goodrich, Scott, Cooper, and it goes on. We buy Kareem, Wilt, Shaq, Pau, Lamar, and the like after they've been proven and that a lays works better than drafting Elden, Divac, or. Bynum. I can easily see us taking Russell or Muiday and going for Marc, Aldridge, Deandre, Hibbert. Especially them paying a big over having to pay Clarkson some trumped up rate he hadn't earned this coming summKer; rondo and/or one of the lotto guards keeps Clarksons price checked too.
I see every reason why Muiday and Russell could go before the bigs. It fits laker past, it fits the league, and it makes sense for both Minny and LA. Hell it's more likely the smalls outlast the bigs and have better careers seeing as how every ncaa big to enter the league gets hurt year one like clockwork now