The #2 Pick

[crazyeights]

Most unintentionally funny thing I've seen in a while.

[jay51024]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/610898154427277314[/tweet]
"Los Angeles Lakers officials conducted a workout of Porzingis on Monday night at the franchise’s El Segundo, Calif., practice facility, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Suddenly, Porzingis is pursuing the Lakers’ pick at No. 2, along with spectacular Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell and Duke’s Jahlil Okafor. Suddenly, Porzingis is changing this NBA draft."

[dockingsched]

Interesting, I thought the Las Vegas workout was going to be his only one. Now he's over here for a private workout.

[Slava]

Yeah, I'm happy they got an up close look on the guy. From what I read, his rise in the draft is nothing short of meteoric and there's almost universal praise now.

[ArC_man]

Jonathan Givony doesn't seem super high on Porzingis, talks about him pretty extensively at the very beginning of the podcast.
Pros:
- Everything that's been talked about so far
- Has experienced strong competition in Europe and has been scouted extensively so he isn't an unknown quantity like Darko

Cons:
- Frail body - questions about how will his frame hold up vs NBA competition
- Poor feel for the game - can't run an offense through him, not a good passer
- Lack of toughness - consistently been a poor rebounder in all levels of competition
- Thinks his upside is a great 3rd or 4th option, not a star/superstar - Okafor has a higher upside

He also says that all signs point to Okafor but he thinks that Mario Hezonja has the highest upside out of everyone not named Towns, says he can be a more athletic Klay Thompson.
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Podcast-Jonathan-Givony-with-Max-Kellerman-and-Marcellus-Wiley-2-5098/

[BEazy]

Man...I really hope we don't take Porzingis...I just have a gut feeling he'll end up like Bargs or Darko..

[xurde]

TRADE...

to Portland? Aldridge, Batum, Lillard

if select Okafor... We need a big trade: Ibaka

[Danny Darko]

^huh?

[Minhee]

Hi Deep! It's been a minute, i know that delusional comment was directed at me lol.

Well nobody said just plug in some scrub at center/PF, but the Heat didn't have anyone like Okafor, OKC made the finals without a legit dominating center. My point is you just need a versatile PF that can play multiple position ala ibaka, Draymond, Leonard or a athletic defensive center like DeAndre or Tyson. Dwight was suppose to be some dominant center and that scrub hasn't lead his teams anywhere.....I think the last true great center that lead his teams to championships would be Shaq...you can argue Duncan but parker and manu had as much to do with those teams especially the 2007 and 2014 squads.

I think it will be tough to pass on either Russell or Okafor, the way the league is playing it might be better grooming your potential star PG especially if him and Clarkson can play well together. Just don't want to be that team that took the conventional wisdom approach of always drafting a big first. Portland probably wants a do over and imagine if Chicago didn't take Rose 1.

Naw Minhee, if you read this entire thread it started almost the day we won the 2nd lotto pick. Look I can't tell people who they should like or not like, I'm just looking at where this franchise is at and what our most glaring need is. My stance is that we can get a competent lead guard in free agency, but this is the one and only time we can draft a set of bigs that will have good careers. No matter how people want to minimize how bigs are useless, because a dominate big can be a problem if the other team has no answer for him.

When I see Okafor play, and I watched him plenty....he's gonna be a threat. Not saying he'll take over the NBA but he has the tools. The things people are nit picking are things he can easily improve. But his offensive post game is years ahead of that clown Dwight, we all know Dwight came in with a limited skill set anyway. Okafor has great foot work, touch around the basket...those are just two things Dwight lacked then and still lacks now.

All I'm saying is we better have a plan, we have two weaknesses. We can cover one in a simpler way in terms of a big, sorry but getting one in free agency is delusional. So why not draft one of the bigs ?

Now we can draft a guard, but it screws us over in terms of having to fill that big spot....we'll have depend on free agency for a big. And none of the decent bigs are coming here. This is a big draft for us, we can't screw it up.

I understand, i'm in no way suggesting Okafor won't be a good pick is just the thought of D'Angelo being a more impactful player. I mean at what measurement will we say Okafor/Russell is a better pick? If D'Angelo becomes a Brandon Roy type player would we be happy taking him at 2? If Okafor becomes a 17 and 10 guy will we be more happy or would we say should have went D'Angelo.

Okafor is light years better than that clown Dwight offensively, my concern is Okafor's defense and his atrocious FT shooting. I cringe when Shaq shot FT's for us but he was so dominant offensive and defensively so it justified that one bad category. Okafor isn't that good offensively to possibly justify his suspect defense and horrible FT's. Also when teams play small ball, who is Okafor guarding? The guy isn't athletic where he can run along, he might be on the bench against teams like GS, Clippers and OKC in a 4th quarter crunch time. We know D'Angelo will be out there in the 4th for sure competing vs Curry going shot for shot. Also, D'Angelo has that swagger to him that makes you believe he will be something special.

it's just that it is so rare to land a top 3 selection i hope we don't end up regretting the pick. It would suck if this turns out to be a Oden-Durant situation or a Thabeet - harden/Curry.

[The Prodigy]

Jonathan Givony doesn't seem super high on Porzingis, talks about him pretty extensively at the very beginning of the podcast.
Pros:
- Everything that's been talked about so far
- Has experienced strong competition in Europe and has been scouted extensively so he isn't an unknown quantity like Darko

Cons:
- Frail body - questions about how will his frame hold up vs NBA competition
- Poor feel for the game - can't run an offense through him, not a good passer
- Lack of toughness - consistently been a poor rebounder in all levels of competition
- Thinks his upside is a great 3rd or 4th option, not a star/superstar - Okafor has a higher upside

He also says that all signs point to Okafor but he thinks that Mario Hezonja has the highest upside out of everyone not named Towns, says he can be a more athletic Klay Thompson.
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Podcast-Jonathan-Givony-with-Max-Kellerman-and-Marcellus-Wiley-2-5098/

Two of those cons can be addressed with an NBA franchise's strength training regimen.

[Rosque]

A great, great piece on Hezonja.

His game in 15 words or fewer: Croatian Kobe. Croatian Klay Thompson. Croatian Jordan Crawford. One of these is right.

till, he’s got all the tools to be a star. Henzonja’s biggest question mark is his biggest asset. By all accounts, he carries himself like the best player on the court, and that mentality works only if he’s actually the best player on the court. Can he be a role player in the NBA, or will his teammates try to fight him?

What’s the worst-case scenario? Imagine Bostjan Nachbar’s game with Kobe Bryant’s attitude.

What’s the best-case scenario? Imagine Klay Thompson’s game with Kobe Bryant’s attitude.

He didn’t get to play much in Spain. Even to some NBA teams, his lack of workouts make him a complete wild card. But that made me wonder: What if Henzonja’s being stuck on the bench in Barcelona had more to do with Europe’s seniority system than his own limits? What if he’s 20 years old, playing in the second-best professional league on earth, instead of college, and he’s the best-kept secret in the draft? Who was the last European guard who turned into a star? Aren’t we due? Could you imagine any better candidate to break the pattern than a cocky 6-foot-8 guard who was nicknamed “The Beast” growing up in Croatia?

One GM told Ford in May: “He’s crazy. But I think it’s a good crazy. The type of crazy confidence that elite players need. If he can keep that competitiveness under control and be patient, he’s got a good shot to be one of the two or three best players in this draft in five years. He has that ‘it’ factor that several guys ahead of him don’t.”

Is there one quote that explains everything? “Respect? No, I never had respect to anybody on a basketball court,” Hezonja said in 2014. “I heard about: ‘If they smell blood, you get eaten.’ I’m not like that. I don’t care. Whether it’s a veteran or a young player standing in front of me I always have the same goal. I want to run over everybody.”

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/whos-that-guy-future-lottery-pick-mario-hezonja/


Jesus just take this guy.

[The Prodigy]

I like Hezonja a lot but not at # 2. I'd be tempted to trade Randle for another top 10 pick to get him.

[Spens1]

I like Hezonja a lot but not at # 2. I'd be tempted to trade Randle for another top 10 pick to get him.

this

if we get Okafor/Towns at 2, wouldn't mind trading Randle to get either one of Russell (if he falls somehow) or Hezonja or even Winslow.

[M2K]

The more I see Okafor and Russell... the more I hope the FO takes D'Angelo with the 2nd pick.

I too marvel at Okafor's post up game... really a thing of beauty... and if that is all it took to win... there would be absolutely no debate by anyone that Jahlil Okafor should be the #1 overall pick.

Unfortunately, excelling at one skill (post game) and being good at a second skill (passing out of the post)... is not enough to override or even compensate for the damage brought on by all the other skills that are subpar: defensive rebounding, defensive positioning, defensive awareness, shot blocking, free throw shooting, playing below the rim, having no real outside shot (2 or 3pt), etc.

The Lakers greatest weakness these past few losing seasons appears to be their inability to make stops on the defensive end of the court. Shot-blocking and defense in the paint have been poor. Adding a player at the center position that is actually terrible in these areas seems like a huge mistake if we are interested in winning.

This brings me to taking a closer look the the two players the Lakers will probably consider with the 2nd pick: Okafor vs Russell

After a lot of consideration... I've advocating for D'Angelo Russell... the player I consider a much better fit for the Lakers for the following reasons:

A) Russell's all around game is much better than Okafors,
B) the NBA is about match ups and versatility makes you more valuable throughout the season (which is why Kaminsky outplayed Okafor in their matchups despite Duke beating Wisconsin both times),
C) Russell has shown flashes at Ohio St of playing excellent defense (albeit very inconsistent), while Okafor's defense has remained atrocious all season long,
D) Throughout the entire year, Okafor's defense at Duke did not improve (and that was on a Championship team with the NBA Draft coming up after the season)
E) Russell's floor leadership and skill set will have a greater impact on making everyone better on the Lakers than what Okafor offers,
F) pairing up Okafor and J Randle is a bad idea since both are post players who play "below the rim" and neither are known as shot blockers, and...
G) pairing Russell and Clarkson is almost TOO PERFECT. Talk about opposite strengths in our backcourt... which plays right into the value of versatility... not to mention... working with someone whose strengths are your weaknesses... what an excellent learning tool.

Bottom line is... everyone has off games...and if Okafor has an off game in the paint... he is practically useless at almost every other facet of the game (shot blocking, defensive rebounding, defensive positioning, free throw shooting, outside shooting, poor athleticism, etc).

We can pick up a FA center (unbelievably the deepest position in this year's FA class) that may not be as smooth as Okafor offensively in the paint but will have a much better all around game while addressing one of the pivotal weaknesses on the Lakers...that is... controlling the paint defensively.

Lakers need to give extra serious consideration to D'Angelo Russell before accepting and drafting a one-dimensional player.

[M2K]

I like Hezonja a lot but not at # 2. I'd be tempted to trade Randle for another top 10 pick to get him.

this

if we get Okafor/Towns at 2, wouldn't mind trading Randle to get either one of Russell (if he falls somehow) or Hezonja or even Winslow.

I would trade J Randle for Hezonja. As much as I like Randle, he's not a shot blocker and plays "below the rim". I want our defense in the paint to be even better.

Getting Hezonja... gives us a cocky, talented SF with all around skills that are better than Randle's (different positions withstanding).

[TyCobb]

Here's comes the Super Mario hype pieces I was looking for.

[Spens1]

I like Hezonja a lot but not at # 2. I'd be tempted to trade Randle for another top 10 pick to get him.

this

if we get Okafor/Towns at 2, wouldn't mind trading Randle to get either one of Russell (if he falls somehow) or Hezonja or even Winslow.

I would trade J Randle for Hezonja. As much as I like Randle, he's not a shot blocker and plays "below the rim". I want our defense in the paint to be even better.

Getting Hezonja... gives us a cocky, talented SF with all around skills that are better than Randle's (different positions withstanding).

seems more like a S.G in the league but i get your point. he could be our own Klay Thompson in a way if he develops nicely

[LApwnd]

Heres my fantasy trade
nyk-vuc, 2018 lakers 1st (from orl)
orl-#2 pick
la-4th and 5th

Draft proj
1-kat
2-ok4
3-kristaph
4-ur choice of russell or wcs
5-mario
We fill 2 spots regardless

[NBA Moses]

Chad Ford, the writer

The gazelle? A 7-foot-2, 19-year-old prodigy from Latvia that looks and plays like a cross between Dirk Nowitzki, Andrei Kirilenko and yes, Kevin Durant.

Porskinniest is up 7'2" now ? He'll be 7'5" by the draft, this cat grows an inch a day.

[NBA Moses]

Heres my fantasy trade
nyk-vuc, 2018 lakers 1st (from orl)
orl-#2 pick
la-4th and 5th

I doubt Orlando would trade Vucevic for the #2 pick. Vuc + #5 for the #2 is not going to happen.