2017 NBA Draft thread (no spoilers)

[dgambill]

5 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

The grass is always greener

Much more athletic...can actually play some defense and shoots as well as Leaf at 42% from 3pt line without a Ball getting him easy open looks. He has a much bigger upside. A lot of people aren't high on Leaf.

[oldunclemark]

6 minutes ago, dgambill said:

GS drafted their team and added a few free agents. SA drafted their team. Boston drafted most of their team. Minnesota drafted their team and just added a star and now they are legit....Utah did too. You build in the draft...nobody wants to come to Indy...except for over the hill vets that are looking to be over paid and steal our money...see Monta and Big Al.

We've debated this.

Minnesota has won nothing Utah has won nothing, Boston has won nothing.

\Spurs drafted their title team in another era.

,,and nobody knew Steph was Steph....They got lucky. Most teams dont

and Durant and Andre I are free agents

Cavs got LBJ as a free agent....Love in a trade.

 

Top draft choices now are 19 year olds....

You either parade in teens and hope or you pay for proven players

 

You make mistakes either way..but I want the vets and the playoffs every time.

I dont want to lose 60 game so I can pick 3rd instead of 13th. I dont want my team to go that way

 

Edited June 23, 2017 by oldunclemark

[oldunclemark]

1 minute ago, dgambill said:

Much more athletic...can actually play some defense and shoots as well as Leaf at 42% from 3pt line without a Ball getting him easy open looks. He has a much bigger upside. A lot of people aren't high on Leaf.

It doesn't matter. Neither has played a game..The grass always seems greener

[oldunclemark]

I love Indiana but I didn't like Thomas Bryant for us at all

[Luck is Good]

Are you * kidding me? Lakers get Thomas Bryant

[Malakai432]

1 minute ago, Luck is Good said:

Are you * kidding me? Lakers get Thomas Bryant

 

Yeah apparently they just love our bigs  .......  Roy from the Pacers, Bryant from IU.

[Luck is Good]

1 minute ago, Malakai432 said:

 

Yeah apparently they just love our bigs  .......  Roy from the Pacers, Bryant from IU.

Magic high as * lol

[oldunclemark]

  I'm not sure our second rounder is going to be 'breaking news'

 

....I have not heard of a lot of the guys who are left

[oldunclemark]

Ike Anoboku....who?

[oldunclemark]

///That guys not going not be on the roster.....a total project

[Luck is Good]

Just like the Suns are the UK of the West, the Pacers are the UCLA of the Midwest

[oldunclemark]

1 minute ago, Luck is Good said:

Just like the Suns are the UK of the West, the Pacers are the UCLA of the Midwest

well said

[oldunclemark]

The

'D-League' is now the G-League' because Gatorade sponsors it???

 

OMG 

[Malakai432]

Ike was primarily projected as first round talent due to sheer measurables.  I'm happy with this pick even though he didn't play.  He was also considered a top 50 recruit going to college.  7-6 wingspan guy has obscene physical metrics.  I also remember them talking about him predraft as first round talent.  There is limited measurables simply because he didn't play much.  Pure potential talent pick.

[oldunclemark]

wow Thomas Bryant traded already..to Utah

[Malakai432]

Just now, oldunclemark said:

wow Thomas Bryant traded already..to Utah

 

 

[oldunclemark]

1 minute ago, Malakai432 said:

Ike was primarily projected as first round talent due to sheer measurables.  I'm happy with this pick even though he didn't play.  He was also considered a top 50 recruit going to college.  7-6 wingspan guy has obscene physical metrics.  I also remember them talking about him predraft as first round talent.  There is limited measurables simply because he didn't play much.  Pure potential talent pick.

7-foot-6 wingspan

....tell Al Jefferson to get to work with him

[oldunclemark]

as Thursday drifts into Friday..

 

the Celtics and Pacers are reportedly still talking about Paul George

[Malakai432]

Edmond Sumner to the Pacers via trade?  Big guard from Xav 6-6, avg 15 pts, 4 rebs, 5 asst/game.  Pacers going tall with this draft.

[oldunclemark]

3 minutes ago, Malakai432 said:

 

 yeah....  Physically he reminds of Ian Mahinmi probably with a larger wingspan.

It says he's still 18 years old until October..

Young enough to be Al's son

 

This boy obviously should have stayed in school but, at least, he'll know Leaf..

The highlights show he can block shots but it would seem he has no offensive game at all

 

 

[Malakai432]

Just now, oldunclemark said:

It says he's still 18 years old until October..

Young enough to be Al's son

 

This boy obviously should have stayed in school but, at least, he'll know Leaf..

The highlights show he can block shots but it would seem he has no offensive game at all

 

 

 

Yeah that's what I was reading about him.  Shot blocker, can hold the paint well yeah probably lots of work to do on the O side of the ball.  Guess AJ can teach him for a year.

[Malakai432]

Article on Sumner, stated was once a surefire first rounder for the 2017 or 2018 draft, he fell on hard times.  Plagued by injures, poor shooting from beyond the arc as well.  That being said, another physical freakish potential there being a huge guard and great on the pick and roll.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bigeastcoastbias.com/platform/amp/2017/6/21/15843724/2017-nba-draft-profile-edmond-sumner-indiana-pacers

[crazycolt1]

After reading and observing this draft I think this might be a pretty good start to the rebuild. All are young players with high potential and will take time to develop.

WE are sure going to be taking our lumps so to say before things will jel.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I think the 2 best players in the Draft that will be great Pro's are Fox and Ball. I like Fox a lot and Ball has all the tools to succeed at the Point = Leadership and Court Vision. The hate Lonzo receives is absolutely ridiculous, he receives it because of his dad which has nothing to do with him. His dad says the dumbest things and I can stand him either like UCLA lost because they had 3 white guys starting, like Lonzo is already better than Curry, and that shoe being 495 dollars is insane. Having said that none of that even has to do with Lonzo. I have never even heard Lonzo talk trash or say anything bad about women or white people. The guy is quiet and polite in every interview I have ever seen of him, it's his dad that is ridiculous. That trade the Lakers made was a 10 on a scale of 10. D'Angelo Russell is very immature and isn't even a true Point Guard. He lacked Leadership, and was a poor Defender. What he did to Nick Young divided the locker room as well. Dumping Mozgov's contract was pure genius. I don't think people realize how tough it is to get rid of a contract like that, it's almost impossible. Getting Lopez and the 27 in return was also solid. Lopez can get you 15-20 points most nights and he can even shoot the 3. The Lakers are possibly looking at a lineup of Ball, Ingram playing the 2, George, Randle, and Lopez if they keep Randle and can land George. Last season their lineup was Russell, Young, Deng, Randle, and Mozgov with Ingram off the bench which sucks eggs.

[Synthetic]

10 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Good God, yeah the Lakers should've just kept Russell and that stiff Mozgov's contract and drafted someone like Josh Jackson so they can go roughly win 21-26 games again. Lakers will be a Playoff team next year if they get PG and Ball will be a solid Pro. Your hate for Ball is ridiculous. Magic trading overrated D'Angelo Russell and freeing up Cap Space by getting rid of Jim Buss's dumb error signing Mozgov was an excellent trade. That trade got A's for the Lakers on almost every Basketball website. If you think Russell is better than Ball than I don't know what to tell you, I tried explaining this to Jules yesterday but of course you guys agree on everything as usual. Magic knows what he is doing and the Lakers days of going 20-62 every year with goofball Jim Buss and Russell running the team are over.

 

-Lopez is a Good Center to boot and will average close 20 points a game.

 

Good god, D'Angelo Russell was their highest scoring player last year. They traded him away for nothing to get out of a bad contract. Lopez will average 20 points a game? You better pray for that, cause I'm going to hold you to it if he don't. The Lakers literally just traded away their future with D'Angelo. A future that they had to intentionally tank to get. 

 

They freed up cap space by getting rid of their best offensive scorer...that alone is pretty bad. Yes, the Mozgoz contract was awful, but when you trade away your best developing young player to free up cap space, that's just bad management...Paul George isn't going to save them either. At this rate, it wouldn't be a shock if Magic gets fleeced on that deal too. 

 

But who is Lonzo going to pass the ball to now to rack up those pretty assist stats? Lopez? Ingram? Julius Randle? D'Angelo Russell was their highest scorer shooter this past year...Great job on Magic to trade their best offensive player, cause now, Lonzo has to do even more. That's the point of why that trade sucks. It puts more pressure on Lonzo to come out the gate and be "better than Steph Curry" as LaVar claimed. 

 

I know, D'Angelo Russell is easy to hate cause the L.A. media declared an all out war on him last year, but that don't mean he was terrible. The kid was only 21 years old. It takes time to get up to NBA level. For Lakers fans that hold Kobe on some pedestal, Kobe wasn't all that special in his first few years either of struggling. 

 

One look at Magic Johnson's twitter account shows he definitely does not know what he is doing. Have you seen his tweets? Other than that, the man has absolutely no experience whatsoever in the front office. No one cares about his past as a former player. That don't mean anything in the front office. Isiah Thomas was a Hall of Fame player, yet a very poor man in the front office. Just cause these guys were great players, is no guarantee they're going to be awesome at management. 

 

The first thing Magic Johnson did was bring in Kobe's agent for GM. Why do that? Rob Pelinka has absolutely zero experience whatsoever. He made Kobe Bryant rich, he didn't build the Lakers up and has no experience as a GM. Evidence clearly says Magic don't know what the hell he's doing. The Lakers are living in nostalgia land of their former success. Until they prove us wrong, the jury is still out and we have every reason to criticize Magic for getting on Twitter and spouting off ridiculous stuff. 

 

Quote

Magic knows what he is doing and the Lakers days of going 20-62 every year with goofball Jim Buss and Russell running the team are over.

 

What? How did Russell run the team?  I'm bewildered how a 21 year old was running the team.  He wasn't even running their offense, that was Luke Walton. And low and behold, D'Angelo actually looked pretty good in Luke Walton's offense by the end of the year when they switch him to SG and he had the 40+ point game!Russell had no say so on that team, so I don't know what you're talking about. If you want to say anyone did, blame Luke Walton for trying to make the kid work. 

 

I don't know why you brought Jim Buss up to me. No one is denying Jim Buss made bad decisions, so I don't get your point there...I didn't mention him, I haven't seen anyone bring him up. This is about Magic's poor decision making. Unless Magic turns them into a contender soon, we are free to be the jury and criticize him. 

 

Quote

If you think Russell is better than Ball than I don't know what to tell you, I tried explaining this to Jules yesterday but of course you guys agree on everything as usual.

 

Oh no, we're so wrong cause we disagree you from time to time!! Sorry, I'm not an echo chamber. I know this bugs you, but you're going to bump into people who completely disagree with you and offer sound reason as to why with debate. That's what I'm doing right now. 

 

For the record; Jules actually don't agree with me on everything. We have plenty disagreements, but we never take it personal. It's fun having someone disagree with you, it offers a different insight and can make a great conversation. Ask Jules sometime about the Packers. That's the one subject we almost always disagree on the most. I won't get off subject on this cause it's ultimately irrelevant. 

 

 

Russell is 21 years old. His rookie season he had to deal with being in the Kobe farewell tour year where all the spotlight was on Kobe. Last year he was injured most of the season but was improving after his return, and was the Lakers highest scoring player. I guess you missed the 40+ point game he had against the defending champion Cavs, or the game winner he had after his grandma died. D'Angelo was clearly improving towards the end of the year. His stats flat out say he improved. 

 

There is no guarantee that Lonzo Ball is going to be better than him. Lonzo has a lot of glaring issues with his mechanics, particularly his jump shot and his bad defense. The defensive problems have been highlighted quite often.

 

Have you seen Lonzo's shooting mechanics? It's bad...He has to slowly wind his body up to get into a shot form. This don't bold well for the NBA where everyone is faster and can knock that shot down and abuse him. He also has an obvious problem relying on his left side that he can't get a shot off unless he's perfectly lined up for his left eye to target the basket. That's also not counting that his shot form, as ugly as it is, goes on his eye sight and not over his head. The criticisms of his shooting form are valid, considering that Lonzo shoots on eye sight and it's not difficult to imagine someone leaping up and batting his shots down since he don't shoot over his head. 

 

Many people, including Lonzo's fans have pointed out how his mechanics are a glaring problem and is a huge risk on him. You should watch Coach Nick on Youtube with BBallBreakdown, who is one of Lonzo's biggest admirers, and he made a whole video pointing out how bad his shot form is. That is one of Lonzo's biggest fans, absolutely loves him, and even he admits that Lonzo has serious problems with his game that is going to need to be changed for him to be efficient in the pro level. 

 

If he don't fix that ugly jumper, he is going to get flat out abused in the NBA. It's already not difficult to imagine Lonzo getting destroyed up against much faster, more efficient scorers who will be abusing him next year. Lonzo had many red flags over him and the highest bust potential of any of the top picks for a reason, if he don't fix his mechanics, he is going to get destroyed in the pro level. 

 

The Lakers trading D'Angelo does not help. Instead it puts more pressure on Lonzo's shoulders to the point, if he's not this surefire amazing future Hall of Famer that he's been hyped up to be, then he is going to massively fail since genius Magic Johnson just traded away their youthful future. Without D'Angelo, Lonzo absolutely MUST come out the gate and be whatever it is that his annoying arrogant father has hyped him up to be. "Better than Steph Curry, better than everyone". 

 

The point is, with trading Russell, Lonzo absolutely cannot be a disappointment. If he is, then the Lakers are totally screwed. Paul George ain't going to save them. Lonzo has a lot of glaring issues and could easily be a bust. They just made the situation way worse by getting rid of a developing young player that would've HELPED HIM.

 

This isn't really about Lonzo vs Russell. if you go browse discussions from Lakers fans, many of the people that are saying this was a bad trade, are talking about how they could've been on the same team, which makes total sense. Most people aren't analyzing this from "Lonzo vs Russell" like you are. They are making it a point that they could've played together and the Lakers would've had another piece to their young developing core.

 Getting rid of Russell puts Lonzo at an even greater disadvantage. He already has the most glaring red flags of all the top picks and the highest bust potential. Taking away their best young developing scorer makes it even worse, cause that puts more pressure on Lonzo to be this Hall of Fame player that his big mouth egotistical father has been screaming about for months. 

 

 

 

[Synthetic]

1 hour ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I think the 2 best players in the Draft that will be great Pro's are Fox and Ball. I like Fox a lot and Ball has all the tools to succeed at the Point = Leadership and Court Vision. The hate Lonzo receives is absolutely ridiculous, he receives it because of his dad which has nothing to do with him. His dad says the dumbest things and I can stand him either like UCLA lost because they had 3 white guys starting, like Lonzo is already better than Curry, and that shoe being 495 dollars is insane.

 

 

Wrong. Lonzo gets a lot of criticism because he has the most glaring red flags of any of the top picks and is the highest bust potential. If you actually are reading the articles criticizing him, most of them don't mention his dad. No one likes his dad, but he has other major issues with his game. 

 

Here's a great article that breaks down tons of issues with Lonzo Ball and showcases all the glaring flaws with his mechanics, and it does not mention his dad whatsoever. 

 

http://fansided.com/2017/05/26/lonzo-ball-scouting-report-finishing/

 

Recommend this article cause it also shows the good things about him. It's not biased whatsoever. 

 

This chart is pretty telling...

 

 

UCLA had an awesome team around him. A team you don't really hear about often. People talk like Lonzo Ball transformed them over night, but look at his assists at the rim. 51.5%...The Lakers do not have scorers who are going to be tipping those bad shots into the hoop for him. 

 

The biggest criticism on Ball is actually that his P&R game is so bad. Pick & Roll is the bread and butter of the NBA. If you go through people who didn't want him, they constantly bring this up that he is awful in P&R and needs to develop it if he is going to keep up with pro level play. 

 

So no, it's not really about his dad. Everyone agrees that his dad is a jerk and the worst thing to happen in basketball, but Lonzo has very big, very real red flags with his game mechanics. People aren't saying this cause his dad is a jerk, it's all there in the tape...It's not a guaranteed thing that he's going to be this awesome player. All the issues with him, gives him a high possibility of being a bust. It also don't help that the Lakers trading away a scorer in Russell, that's going to definitely hurt him too. 

 

If he can work out and be awesome, then great. If not, then it was a big waste of time since he has so many red flags over him. 

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 hour ago, Synthetic said:

 

Good god, D'Angelo Russell was their highest scoring player last year. They traded him away for nothing to get out of a bad contract. Lopez will average 20 points a game? You better pray for that, cause I'm going to hold you to it if he don't. The Lakers literally just traded away their future with D'Angelo. A future that they had to intentionally tank to get. 

 

They freed up cap space by getting rid of their best offensive scorer...that alone is pretty bad. Yes, the Mozgoz contract was awful, but when you trade away your best developing young player to free up cap space, that's just bad management...Paul George isn't going to save them either. At this rate, it wouldn't be a shock if Magic gets fleeced on that deal too. 

 

But who is Lonzo going to pass the ball to now to rack up those pretty assist stats? Lopez? Ingram? Julius Randle? D'Angelo Russell was their highest scorer shooter this past year...Great job on Magic to trade their best offensive player, cause now, Lonzo has to do even more. That's the point of why that trade sucks. It puts more pressure on Lonzo to come out the gate and be "better than Steph Curry" as LaVar claimed. 

 

I know, D'Angelo Russell is easy to hate cause the L.A. media declared an all out war on him last year, but that don't mean he was terrible. The kid was only 21 years old. It takes time to get up to NBA level. For Lakers fans that hold Kobe on some pedestal, Kobe wasn't all that special in his first few years either of struggling. 

 

One look at Magic Johnson's twitter account shows he definitely does not know what he is doing. Have you seen his tweets? Other than that, the man has absolutely no experience whatsoever in the front office. No one cares about his past as a former player. That don't mean anything in the front office. Isiah Thomas was a Hall of Fame player, yet a very poor man in the front office. Just cause these guys were great players, is no guarantee they're going to be awesome at management. 

 

The first thing Magic Johnson did was bring in Kobe's agent for GM. Why do that? Rob Pelinka has absolutely zero experience whatsoever. He made Kobe Bryant rich, he didn't build the Lakers up and has no experience as a GM. Evidence clearly says Magic don't know what the hell he's doing. The Lakers are living in nostalgia land of their former success. Until they prove us wrong, the jury is still out and we have every reason to criticize Magic for getting on Twitter and spouting off ridiculous stuff. 

 

 

What? How did Russell run the team?  I'm bewildered how a 21 year old was running the team.  He wasn't even running their offense, that was Luke Walton. And low and behold, D'Angelo actually looked pretty good in Luke Walton's offense by the end of the year when they switch him to SG and he had the 40+ point game!Russell had no say so on that team, so I don't know what you're talking about. If you want to say anyone did, blame Luke Walton for trying to make the kid work. 

 

I don't know why you brought Jim Buss up to me. No one is denying Jim Buss made bad decisions, so I don't get your point there...I didn't mention him, I haven't seen anyone bring him up. This is about Magic's poor decision making. Unless Magic turns them into a contender soon, we are free to be the jury and criticize him. 

 

 

Oh no, we're so wrong cause we disagree you from time to time!! Sorry, I'm not an echo chamber. I know this bugs you, but you're going to bump into people who completely disagree with you and offer sound reason as to why with debate. That's what I'm doing right now. 

 

For the record; Jules actually don't agree with me on everything. We have plenty disagreements, but we never take it personal. It's fun having someone disagree with you, it offers a different insight and can make a great conversation. Ask Jules sometime about the Packers. That's the one subject we almost always disagree on the most. I won't get off subject on this cause it's ultimately irrelevant. 

 

 

Russell is 21 years old. His rookie season he had to deal with being in the Kobe farewell tour year where all the spotlight was on Kobe. Last year he was injured most of the season but was improving after his return, and was the Lakers highest scoring player. I guess you missed the 40+ point game he had against the defending champion Cavs, or the game winner he had after his grandma died. D'Angelo was clearly improving towards the end of the year. His stats flat out say he improved. 

 

There is no guarantee that Lonzo Ball is going to be better than him. Lonzo has a lot of glaring issues with his mechanics, particularly his jump shot and his bad defense. The defensive problems have been highlighted quite often.

 

Have you seen Lonzo's shooting mechanics? It's bad...He has to slowly wind his body up to get into a shot form. This don't bold well for the NBA where everyone is faster and can knock that shot down and abuse him. He also has an obvious problem relying on his left side that he can't get a shot off unless he's perfectly lined up for his left eye to target the basket. That's also not counting that his shot form, as ugly as it is, goes on his eye sight and not over his head. The criticisms of his shooting form are valid, considering that Lonzo shoots on eye sight and it's not difficult to imagine someone leaping up and batting his shots down since he don't shoot over his head. 

 

Many people, including Lonzo's fans have pointed out how his mechanics are a glaring problem and is a huge risk on him. You should watch Coach Nick on Youtube with BBallBreakdown, who is one of Lonzo's biggest admirers, and he made a whole video pointing out how bad his shot form is. That is one of Lonzo's biggest fans, absolutely loves him, and even he admits that Lonzo has serious problems with his game that is going to need to be changed for him to be efficient in the pro level. 

 

If he don't fix that ugly jumper, he is going to get flat out abused in the NBA. It's already not difficult to imagine Lonzo getting destroyed up against much faster, more efficient scorers who will be abusing him next year. Lonzo had many red flags over him and the highest bust potential of any of the top picks for a reason, if he don't fix his mechanics, he is going to get destroyed in the pro level. 

 

The Lakers trading D'Angelo does not help. Instead it puts more pressure on Lonzo's shoulders to the point, if he's not this surefire amazing future Hall of Famer that he's been hyped up to be, then he is going to massively fail since genius Magic Johnson just traded away their youthful future. Without D'Angelo, Lonzo absolutely MUST come out the gate and be whatever it is that his annoying arrogant father has hyped him up to be. "Better than Steph Curry, better than everyone". 

 

The point is, with trading Russell, Lonzo absolutely cannot be a disappointment. If he is, then the Lakers are totally screwed. Paul George ain't going to save them. Lonzo has a lot of glaring issues and could easily be a bust. They just made the situation way worse by getting rid of a developing young player that would've HELPED HIM.

 

This isn't really about Lonzo vs Russell. if you go browse discussions from Lakers fans, many of the people that are saying this was a bad trade, are talking about how they could've been on the same team, which makes total sense. Most people aren't analyzing this from "Lonzo vs Russell" like you are. They are making it a point that they could've played together and the Lakers would've had another piece to their young developing core.

 Getting rid of Russell puts Lonzo at an even greater disadvantage. He already has the most glaring red flags of all the top picks and the highest bust potential. Taking away their best young developing scorer makes it even worse, cause that puts more pressure on Lonzo to be this Hall of Fame player that his big mouth egotistical father has been screaming about for months. 

 

 

 

I follow the Lakers quite a bit because I have friends that are Lakers fans and I love Magic. When Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss drafted Russell they expected him to run the team on the court as Russell was being compared to the next Magic Johnson. If you go back to that Draft everyone was saying this. Ball will be better IMO and it was a great trade for the Lakers. What would you rather have a lineup of Russell, Young, Deng, Randle, and Mozgov or Ball, Ingram, George, Randle, and Lopez? That is an easy answer and Magic will pick up another great Free Agent in the summer of 2018 as well because of dumping Mozgov's contract. I don't mind people disagreeing with me at all but you guys gang up on me over everything, that is why I quit chatting with you 2 for the most part. Also and yes you hardly ever disagree with each other. I suppose since you are rooting for Miami now, she will be too  like rooting for the cheating Patriots. Have you ever ask yourself how does a Colts fan root for the Patriots? I have never came across 1 in my lifetime. I picked the Warriors to win the Championship back in October and you guys kept saying Cavs and LeBron this and that all season up until the Finals. I tried to tell you guys LeBron wasn't beating them but yet it went ignored all season. You even said the Warriors getting Durant was no bigge because LeBron has always owned him. Only after Game 2 did you guys realize LeBron wasn't your GOAT so you guys poo poo'd the NBA and just started saying how the Warriors are ruining the NBA. I am no * and know what's going on, you guys aren't chatting with a 20 year old. Last point Brook Lopez averaged 20 points a game last season, do you even watch him? He will give the Lakers 17-20 points easily. The guy is a great scorer. The Lakers are in good hands and in 3 years from now when they are dominating I don't even want to see you bandwagoning on them because of the ridiculous hate you are giving a 19 year old kid for no reason except for his dad being JACKBUTT. The Hate you are giving Magic already is comical as well. He knows what he is doing IMO.

[BullsColtsFan1]

1 hour ago, Synthetic said:

 

Good god, D'Angelo Russell was their highest scoring player last year. They traded him away for nothing to get out of a bad contract. Lopez will average 20 points a game? You better pray for that, cause I'm going to hold you to it if he don't. The Lakers literally just traded away their future with D'Angelo. A future that they had to intentionally tank to get. 

 

They freed up cap space by getting rid of their best offensive scorer...that alone is pretty bad. Yes, the Mozgoz contract was awful, but when you trade away your best developing young player to free up cap space, that's just bad management...Paul George isn't going to save them either. At this rate, it wouldn't be a shock if Magic gets fleeced on that deal too. 

 

But who is Lonzo going to pass the ball to now to rack up those pretty assist stats? Lopez? Ingram? Julius Randle? D'Angelo Russell was their highest scorer shooter this past year...Great job on Magic to trade their best offensive player, cause now, Lonzo has to do even more. That's the point of why that trade sucks. It puts more pressure on Lonzo to come out the gate and be "better than Steph Curry" as LaVar claimed. 

 

I know, D'Angelo Russell is easy to hate cause the L.A. media declared an all out war on him last year, but that don't mean he was terrible. The kid was only 21 years old. It takes time to get up to NBA level. For Lakers fans that hold Kobe on some pedestal, Kobe wasn't all that special in his first few years either of struggling. 

 

One look at Magic Johnson's twitter account shows he definitely does not know what he is doing. Have you seen his tweets? Other than that, the man has absolutely no experience whatsoever in the front office. No one cares about his past as a former player. That don't mean anything in the front office. Isiah Thomas was a Hall of Fame player, yet a very poor man in the front office. Just cause these guys were great players, is no guarantee they're going to be awesome at management. 

 

The first thing Magic Johnson did was bring in Kobe's agent for GM. Why do that? Rob Pelinka has absolutely zero experience whatsoever. He made Kobe Bryant rich, he didn't build the Lakers up and has no experience as a GM. Evidence clearly says Magic don't know what the hell he's doing. The Lakers are living in nostalgia land of their former success. Until they prove us wrong, the jury is still out and we have every reason to criticize Magic for getting on Twitter and spouting off ridiculous stuff. 

 

 

What? How did Russell run the team?  I'm bewildered how a 21 year old was running the team.  He wasn't even running their offense, that was Luke Walton. And low and behold, D'Angelo actually looked pretty good in Luke Walton's offense by the end of the year when they switch him to SG and he had the 40+ point game!Russell had no say so on that team, so I don't know what you're talking about. If you want to say anyone did, blame Luke Walton for trying to make the kid work. 

 

I don't know why you brought Jim Buss up to me. No one is denying Jim Buss made bad decisions, so I don't get your point there...I didn't mention him, I haven't seen anyone bring him up. This is about Magic's poor decision making. Unless Magic turns them into a contender soon, we are free to be the jury and criticize him. 

 

 

Oh no, we're so wrong cause we disagree you from time to time!! Sorry, I'm not an echo chamber. I know this bugs you, but you're going to bump into people who completely disagree with you and offer sound reason as to why with debate. That's what I'm doing right now. 

 

For the record; Jules actually don't agree with me on everything. We have plenty disagreements, but we never take it personal. It's fun having someone disagree with you, it offers a different insight and can make a great conversation. Ask Jules sometime about the Packers. That's the one subject we almost always disagree on the most. I won't get off subject on this cause it's ultimately irrelevant. 

 

 

Russell is 21 years old. His rookie season he had to deal with being in the Kobe farewell tour year where all the spotlight was on Kobe. Last year he was injured most of the season but was improving after his return, and was the Lakers highest scoring player. I guess you missed the 40+ point game he had against the defending champion Cavs, or the game winner he had after his grandma died. D'Angelo was clearly improving towards the end of the year. His stats flat out say he improved. 

 

There is no guarantee that Lonzo Ball is going to be better than him. Lonzo has a lot of glaring issues with his mechanics, particularly his jump shot and his bad defense. The defensive problems have been highlighted quite often.

 

Have you seen Lonzo's shooting mechanics? It's bad...He has to slowly wind his body up to get into a shot form. This don't bold well for the NBA where everyone is faster and can knock that shot down and abuse him. He also has an obvious problem relying on his left side that he can't get a shot off unless he's perfectly lined up for his left eye to target the basket. That's also not counting that his shot form, as ugly as it is, goes on his eye sight and not over his head. The criticisms of his shooting form are valid, considering that Lonzo shoots on eye sight and it's not difficult to imagine someone leaping up and batting his shots down since he don't shoot over his head. 

 

Many people, including Lonzo's fans have pointed out how his mechanics are a glaring problem and is a huge risk on him. You should watch Coach Nick on Youtube with BBallBreakdown, who is one of Lonzo's biggest admirers, and he made a whole video pointing out how bad his shot form is. That is one of Lonzo's biggest fans, absolutely loves him, and even he admits that Lonzo has serious problems with his game that is going to need to be changed for him to be efficient in the pro level. 

 

If he don't fix that ugly jumper, he is going to get flat out abused in the NBA. It's already not difficult to imagine Lonzo getting destroyed up against much faster, more efficient scorers who will be abusing him next year. Lonzo had many red flags over him and the highest bust potential of any of the top picks for a reason, if he don't fix his mechanics, he is going to get destroyed in the pro level. 

 

The Lakers trading D'Angelo does not help. Instead it puts more pressure on Lonzo's shoulders to the point, if he's not this surefire amazing future Hall of Famer that he's been hyped up to be, then he is going to massively fail since genius Magic Johnson just traded away their youthful future. Without D'Angelo, Lonzo absolutely MUST come out the gate and be whatever it is that his annoying arrogant father has hyped him up to be. "Better than Steph Curry, better than everyone". 

 

The point is, with trading Russell, Lonzo absolutely cannot be a disappointment. If he is, then the Lakers are totally screwed. Paul George ain't going to save them. Lonzo has a lot of glaring issues and could easily be a bust. They just made the situation way worse by getting rid of a developing young player that would've HELPED HIM.

 

This isn't really about Lonzo vs Russell. if you go browse discussions from Lakers fans, many of the people that are saying this was a bad trade, are talking about how they could've been on the same team, which makes total sense. Most people aren't analyzing this from "Lonzo vs Russell" like you are. They are making it a point that they could've played together and the Lakers would've had another piece to their young developing core.

 Getting rid of Russell puts Lonzo at an even greater disadvantage. He already has the most glaring red flags of all the top picks and the highest bust potential. Taking away their best young developing scorer makes it even worse, cause that puts more pressure on Lonzo to be this Hall of Fame player that his big mouth egotistical father has been screaming about for months. 

 

 

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3448/brook-lopez

 

He'll average 20 PPG easily.  He has for practically is whole NBA career.  D'Angelo Russell was being traded regardless.  The Lakers organization were paving the way for Ball who is the best all around point guard prospect since Jason Kidd.  A lot of people want him to fail strictly because of his dad but the kid is talented.  I am sure he'll prove a lot of doubters wrong.  If they get Paul George, I am sure they were be an attractive free agency destination too.  Magic will have the Lakers turned around in the next 3-4 years. I know your a huge LeBron guy, there are rumblings that he's going there next year.  I am sure your tune will change if that happens? 

[2006Coltsbestever]

55 minutes ago, BullsColtsFan1 said:

http://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3448/brook-lopez

 

He'll average 20 PPG easily.  He has for practically is whole NBA career.  D'Angelo Russell was being traded regardless.  The Lakers organization were paving the way for Ball who is the best all around point guard prospect since Jason Kidd.  A lot of people want him to fail strictly because of his dad but the kid is talented.  I am sure he'll prove a lot of doubters wrong.  If they get Paul George, I am sure they were be an attractive free agency destination too.  Magic will have the Lakers turned around in the next 3-4 years. I know your a huge LeBron guy, there are rumblings that he's going there next year.  I am sure your tune will change if that happens? 

I will be at least fair and say Bogie is very intelligent and knows a lot about sports but how he doesn't think Lopez can average around 20 a game is puzzling, he's done it his whole career. This trade will benefit the Lakers bigtime as well and I will leave it at that. Also I don't mind people disagreeing with me, I am not the GOD of sports , if everyone agreed with me it would be freakin boring but when you disagree with me please bring facts. Had LeBron won the Championship I would've been the first person to say to Bogie and Jules I was dead wrong. That is just how I roll. I wouldn't have just said the NBA sucks, I am ready for Football. I owned up to being wrong last season and praised Jules for her pick of the Cavs.

[BullsColtsFan1]

7 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I will be at least fair and say Bogie is very intelligent and knows a lot about sports but how he doesn't think Lopez can average around 20 a game is puzzling, he's done it his whole career. This trade will benefit the Lakers bigtime as well and I will leave it at that. Also I don't mind people disagreeing with me, I am not the GOD of sports , if everyone agreed with me it would freakin boring but when you disagree with me please bring facts. Had LeBron won the Championship I would've been the first person to say to Bogie and Jules I was dead wrong. That is just how I roll. I wouldn't have just said the NBA sucks, I am ready for Football. I owned up to being wrong last season and praised Jules for her pick of the Cavs.

I like D'Angelo Russell a lot, I have since he came out of Ohio State but in my honest opinion Ball is better.  So the Lakers gave up Mozgov($60 million contract) and Russell to get a low post scorer who can spread the floor as well(they haven't had a great low post scorer since Gasol).  Lopez averaged 17 a few years 19 a few and 13 his first, every other year is right around 20, there's no reason to believe he can't average 20 for the Lakers especially with Ball running the show.  He's going to be the #1 or #2 option pending if they get George.  If I am wrong about Ball, I'll fully admit it.  If I am wrong about the horrible trade my Bulls made I will admit it.  I am with you on that. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, BullsColtsFan1 said:

I like D'Angelo Russell a lot, I have since he came out of Ohio State but in my honest opinion Ball is better.  So the Lakers gave up Mozgov($60 million contract) and Russell to get a low post scorer who can spread the floor as well(they haven't had a great low post scorer since Gasol).  Lopez averaged 17 a few years 19 a few and 13 his first, every other year is right around 20, there's no reason to believe he can't average 20 for the Lakers especially with Ball running the show.  He's going to be the #1 or #2 option pending if they get George.  If I am wrong about Ball, I'll fully admit it.  If I am wrong about the horrible trade my Bulls made I will admit it.  I am with you on that. 

If the Lakers get George, George will be the #1 option but Lopez will be option #2 which means he will be around 20 a game. Ball will be around 10 Assists a game IMO if he has those 2. Regarding your Bulls and my Pacers - they both look like they don't have a leg to stand on.

[Luck is Good]

Lonzo will bust. Not only because of all the pressure on him with going to the Lakers but his dumb dad

[2006Coltsbestever]

19 minutes ago, Luck is Good said:

Lonzo will bust. Not only because of all the pressure on him with going to the Lakers but his dumb dad

Wrong, Russell is the bust. He will disappear in stinky Brooklyn. Ball will be a Great Pro within 3 seasons. At least we now have something we can follow and debate because you think Ball stinks and I think he will be Great. I think Good in his Rookie season, as a rookie for someone to be Great is unrealistic. Russell was lousy in his rookie season, Lakers went 17-65 LOL. I guarantee with Ball the Lakers don't go 17-65. If the Lakers land George and only have to give up Randle and Clarkson and some future picks I would bet with Ball/Ingram/George/Lopez that the Lakers would at least be .500 (41-41). They were 26-56 last season so that is a bold statement saying they will improve 15 games but they need those 4 to do it.

[Luck is Good]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Wrong, Russell is the bust. He will disappear in stinky Brooklyn. Ball will be a Great Pro within 3 seasons. At least we now have something we can follow and debate because you think Ball stinks and I think he will be Great. I think Good in his Rookie season, as a rookie for someone to be Great is unrealistic. Russell was lousy in his rookie season, Lakers went 17-65 LOL. I guarantee with Ball the Lakers don't go 17-65. If the Lakers land George and only have to give up Randle and Clarkson and some future picks I would bet with Ball/Ingram/George/Lopez that the Lakers would at least be .500 (41-41). They were 26-56 last season so that is a bold statement saying they will improve 15 games but they need those 4 to do it.

You're loving Lonzo for whatever reason. The guy is alright but you're making him out to be some savior riding in on a white horse. Lakers have absolutely no chance to be .500. And hell no on the playoffs. His dumb dad said that last night too. And that Zeus said that Lonzo would be a Lakers player. Good lord lol. And on D'Angelo, he'll be the lone bright spot for the Nets. That isn't saying much since they're so pathetic. Pretty much any player that goes to the Nets right now will disappear and fall into obscurity

[2006Coltsbestever]

6 minutes ago, Luck is Good said:

You're loving Lonzo for whatever reason. The guy is alright but you're making him out to be some savior riding in on a white horse. Lakers have absolutely no chance to be .500. And hell no on the playoffs. His dumb dad said that last night too. And that Zeus said that Lonzo would be a Lakers player. Good lord lol. And on D'Angelo, he'll be the lone bright spot for the Nets. That isn't saying much since they're so pathetic. Pretty much any player that goes to the Nets right now will disappear and fall into obscurity

Yeah everyone is piling on Lonzo so I am here to defend him. It's not his fault his dad is a turd.

[BullsColtsFan1]

1 hour ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

If the Lakers get George, George will be the #1 option but Lopez will be option #2 which means he will be around 20 a game. Ball will be around 10 Assists a game IMO if he has those 2. Regarding your Bulls and my Pacers - they both look like they don't have a leg to stand on.

Ball is not much of a scorer, he can if he has to.  I see him averaging 14ppg, 5rpg and 7apg as a rookie.  Still if the Lakers got George there starters would be pg-Ball sg-George sf-Ingram pf-Randle c-Lopez, that might get them into the playoffs, they may need a year or two to mesh though and to add bench players.  I say watch out for the Timberwolves Rubio, Butler, Wiggins, Town and Thibs.  If they get some bench players I legit think they can be a top 4 team in the West.  It's up for grabs after GS and SA and SA could be on the down swing.  I am not counting them out yet though. 

[BullsColtsFan1]

13 minutes ago, Luck is Good said:

You're loving Lonzo for whatever reason. The guy is alright but you're making him out to be some savior riding in on a white horse. Lakers have absolutely no chance to be .500. And hell no on the playoffs. His dumb dad said that last night too. And that Zeus said that Lonzo would be a Lakers player. Good lord lol. And on D'Angelo, he'll be the lone bright spot for the Nets. That isn't saying much since they're so pathetic. Pretty much any player that goes to the Nets right now will disappear and fall into obscurity

It's really hard to judge someone before they are even in the NBA.  Tons of fans think he'll be a bust, tons think he'll be a stud.  I think he'll be a stud.  Only Jason Kidd put up numbers similar to his in 1 year at UCLA.  I think a lot of people want him to fail strictly because of his ignorant dad but I think the kid is pretty laid back and is nothing like his dad.  I guess only time will tell.  You could be right about him being a bust.

[2006Coltsbestever]

3 minutes ago, BullsColtsFan1 said:

Ball is not much of a scorer, he can if he has to.  I see him averaging 14ppg, 5rpg and 7apg as a rookie.  Still if the Lakers got George there starters would be pg-Ball sg-George sf-Ingram pf-Randle c-Lopez, that might get them into the playoffs, they may need a year or two to mesh though and to add bench players.  I say watch out for the Timberwolves Rubio, Butler, Wiggins, Town and Thibs.  If they get some bench players I legit think they can be a top 4 team in the West.  It's up for grabs after GS and SA and SA could be on the down swing.  I am not counting them out yet though. 

I am a huge Andrew Wiggins fan, I think he is close to being a Top 20 player in this league. A Big3 of Butler who is Top 20/Towns/Wiggins is a Playoff team IMO. That could prevent the Lakers from not making it in  

[2006Coltsbestever]

I have Posted this but I think the Cavs royally screwed up when they traded Wiggins.

[BullsColtsFan1]

3 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I am a huge Andrew Wiggins fan, I think he is close to being a Top 20 player in this league. A Big3 of Butler who is Top 20/Towns/Wiggins is a Playoff team IMO. That could prevent the Lakers from not making it in  

Very true but I think OKC and LAC will take steps backwards.  We'll see how free agency plays out at least.  I am rooting for the Wolves to do well.