LloydFree wrote:smittybanton wrote:LloydFree wrote:Ball won't be there at #3. There going to be false rumors from now until the draft about the Lakers liking Fox more than Ball. I hope nobody holds their breath waiting for the Lakers to pass on Ball to take Fox. That's not going to happen. The Lakers are going to keep leaking that nonsense, so the Celtics won't get any ideas about taking Ball and holding him for ransom.
What about the fact that Fox might be better than Ball?
Eventually, he may be just that. Ball has some Bust potential in his game. But Fox is going to take a lot of time, just like Dennis Schroeder and Mike Conley. (Honestly, I don't think Fox is anywhere near as good or advanced as Mike Conley at the same stage, but that seems to be the ceiling others have given him) Fox is too weak physically, isn't a good enough shooter and isn't an advanced enough distributer to get any time early on. It will be two years minimum, before Fox is anything in the NBA. The Lakers and other teams know this. I think there is zero chance Fox goes in the top 3 picks.
These teams (Lakers and 76ers) are just using his name as misdirection so other teams can't lock in on who they want, IMO.
I believe you have correctly identified Fox's flaws, but either overestimate them or underestimate the flaws of the other prospects. There is a distinct possibility that none of these players become better than Michael Conley. I actually think you've hit upon a very good comp for the level I think all of the top six or seven will probably reach. If DeAaron Fox matches Conley but Markelle Fultz is only 80% of James Harden and Lonzo Ball is 80% of Jason Kidd, who do you take? I can't say one way or the other, which is why I would trade down from three, since I feel that way about Tatum, Isaac, DSJ, etc. In the end, you may be right. But I guess I have issue with the ''zero" chance when a great many believe Fox outplayed Ball, twice.
Consider another player who was considered too weak and a long term project, and who the Lakers worked out around this time back in 2015, and the draftniks had a consensus one-two-three going:
Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis continues to shoot up draft boards, and rumors persist that he may be in play for the Lakers with the 2nd overall pick in the draft. Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operation Jim Buss went to Las Vegas last Friday to scout Porzingis, and came away impressed.
According to a recent report by Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski, Porzingis made such an impact on Buss and Kupchak that the team scheduled a private workout with him in Los Angeles that took place Monday night.
This was thought by many to be a smokescreen. As was the report that after the next workout the Lakers believed Porzingis was the best player in the draft. But, as we all recall, the Lakers already had Julius Randle and were almost uniformly believed to be taking the second prize of the daft, Okafor, leaving Russell to the Sixers. There's just no way to tell.
[*I would also say that of all the top prospects, it is Lonzo Ball whose frame suggests he will struggle to defend immediately and perhaps even long term--a la Jeremy Lamb. I think he'll be fine. I like his defensive instincts. But between the two, I think Ball will be the more questionable defender.]
