# NBA Draft 2010 - Lakers Thread



## JerryWest (Jun 24, 2002)

Anyone you want? We are drafting late, but if Chase Budinger or Tyler Hansbrough fall to us, I would be pissed if we skip over them. Otherwise, I have zero expectations from this draft, I don't see much talent.


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## Bartholomew Hunt (Mar 4, 2003)

Take Meeks in the second round.


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

Take a specialist. Whoever we get won't be able to crack our rotation unless Odom and Powell both leave and we draft a PF or center.


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## Lynx (Mar 6, 2004)

I'm no draft expert but why would Hansbrough fall into a late draft pick? Seems like this year draft is filled with PGs.


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## bball2223 (Jul 21, 2006)

Because Hansbrough is 6'9" 250 and isn't very athletic. He has a decent turnaround jumpshot, and he will give you 100% effort but his game isn't going to translate to the NBA. At best he is a 10-12 minute rotation player who maybe gets increased minutes when you need more offense off the bench from your bigs. He would play about as much as Adam Morrison did if you kept everybody around. I have watched him for 4 years, and I wouldn't have traded him for anyone at the college level (a bit homerish I admit) but his game just isn't going to translate to the next level.


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## Damian Necronamous (Jun 10, 2002)

I'm hoping for either Wayne Ellington or Patrick Mills with the #29 pick.

As for #42, I'd like to see Josh Heytvelt, Taj Gibson or Danny Green.


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## Lynx (Mar 6, 2004)

bball2223 said:


> Because Hansbrough is 6'9" 250 and isn't very athletic. He has a decent turnaround jumpshot, and he will give you 100% effort but his game isn't going to translate to the NBA. At best he is a 10-12 minute rotation player who maybe gets increased minutes when you need more offense off the bench from your bigs. He would play about as much as Adam Morrison did if you kept everybody around. I have watched him for 4 years, and I wouldn't have traded him for anyone at the college level (a bit homerish I admit) but his game just isn't going to translate to the next level.


You maybe right...but I don't see him getting draft late. Some stupid GM will pick him. He would be great fit in Atlanta, though.

Btw, how come living in Michigan you're a Tar Heels fan? Go State!


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## bball2223 (Jul 21, 2006)

:laugh: My Dad's always been a fan and I took after him. I like State don't get me wrong (especially over UM) but I have always been a UNC fan first and foremost.


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## Plastic Man (Nov 8, 2004)

Damian Necronamous said:


> I'm hoping for either Wayne Ellington or Patrick Mills with the #29 pick.
> 
> As for #42, I'd like to see Josh Heytvelt, Taj Gibson or Danny Green.


Mills? Is that the little Australian guy? I'd take him in a second, considering our guard rotation minus Kobe sucks or is old.


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## sylaw (Nov 7, 2002)

Budinger? Yuck! The guy is soft and lacks lateral quickness. He is also strictly a 3, which we have a lot of. 

I say Derrick Brown might be someone to look at. He can play the 3 or the 4. Hansbrough might be ok but he'll probably be off the board by the time the Lakers pick.

Honestly, there's really not a whole lot out there. I say we get rid of these picks somehow or draft someone overseas. It's not like anybody we get will play anyways.


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## JerryWest (Jun 24, 2002)

Damian Necronamous said:


> I'm hoping for either Wayne Ellington or Patrick Mills with the #29 pick.
> 
> As for #42, I'd like to see Josh Heytvelt, Taj Gibson or Danny Green.


I can't believe I forgot Danny Green. I wouldn't mind we got him with our first round pick either. The guy is long and one of the best defensive players in the draft.


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## Lynx (Mar 6, 2004)

bball2223 said:


> :laugh: My Dad's always been a fan and I took after him. I like State don't get me wrong (especially over UM) but I have always been a UNC fan first and foremost.


My man.. :champagne:


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

You guys are picking close to the bottom, forget getting Budinger or Hansbrough. Your best bet is to pick a guy like Derrick Brown who is a better player than Josh Powell. Heck pick a Taj Gibson or Heytvelt at that point, but stop dreaming about Ellington, Hansbrough and co. They are long gone off the board by the time you pick.


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## Bartholomew Hunt (Mar 4, 2003)

HB said:


> You guys are picking close to the bottom, forget getting Budinger or Hansbrough. Your best bet is to pick a guy like Derrick Brown who is a better player than Josh Powell. Heck pick a Taj Gibson or Heytvelt at that point, but stop dreaming about Ellington, Hansbrough and co. They are long gone off the board by the time you pick.


Exactly. I was thinking more along the lines of Jeff Teague or James Harden.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Thoughts on Nick Calathes?? 6'5 pg in a Kirk Hinrich mold. Dionte Christmas??


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## jazzy1 (Jul 16, 2002)

CubanLaker said:


> Thoughts on Nick Calathes?? 6'5 pg in a Kirk Hinrich mold. Dionte Christmas??


Calathes would be perfect he's gonna play overseas for a couple years and has the versatility to play in our system. We aren't gonna draft someone that can come in and play on the team right away anyhow. We don;t have the roster space really if everyone comes back. 

But Calathes I think is gonna be a very very good pro. he has that understanding of the game thats hard to teach and has a good stroke.


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## Tyrellaphonte (Feb 21, 2004)

Patty Mills could be good... A lightning quick point guard to backup Fish/Farmar.. 

I really think Sasha doesnt have much of a place on this team. Re-Signing Shannon would make Shannon the backup SG and Farmar/A late 1st rd PG could backup Fish. Sasha has been awful since the end of the season and I'd rather have Patty Mills then Sasha to tell u the truth


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## jazzy1 (Jul 16, 2002)

Only problem I have with Mills is he's very small and he's not a good shooter. Last thing we need is another guard who can't shoot. But he's quick and can penetrate.


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## elcap15 (Aug 8, 2006)

jazzy1 said:


> Calathes would be perfect he's gonna play overseas for a couple years and has the versatility to play in our system. We aren't gonna draft someone that can come in and play on the team right away anyhow. We don;t have the roster space really if everyone comes back.
> 
> But Calathes I think is gonna be a very very good pro. he has that understanding of the game thats hard to teach and has a good stroke.


Thats who Im hoping for. I said this in a different thread sometime last week. Good player who we can put on ice for a year or two.


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## Damian Necronamous (Jun 10, 2002)

Just realized this thread is titled NBA Draft 2010...ummm...it's the 2009 Draft. Can we change the title?

Anyway, Chad Ford's Mock 6.0 has us taking...
#29 - Darren Collison
#42 - Josh Heytvelt
#59 - Dante Cunningham

I really want to see us take guys that will play on our squad next season with our first two picks. I don't mean necessarily guys in the rotation, but players at least capable of showing flashes of solid play that don't need to be stashed in the D-League. With the 59th pick, I'd prefer a European player that can be stashed overseas. I would be extremely happy if Collison and Heytvelt were our first two picks. However, I would prefer Wayne Ellington over Collison, and Ford has Ellington slipping into the 2nd Round. I think Heytvelt has the potential to be a solid backup big man, especially if he gets to practice against Pau, Drew and Lamar on a daily basis.


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## elcap15 (Aug 8, 2006)

^^^ why would want to get a guy that can play next year? We already have more players than minutes in the rotation. It makes a lot more sense to me to stash a player in Europe for a year, let him develope a bit on someone else's dime and go with what we got.

I just dont see us getting anyone that will be an improvement over what we already have. None of the guards that fall to us are better than Brown or Farmar, there are no big men in the draft better than Pau/Bynum/Odom/Powell. The only type player that I could see getting any PT would be a shooter, but my guess is Sasha or Ammo would still be better.


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## Damian Necronamous (Jun 10, 2002)

elcap15 said:


> ^^^ why would want to get a guy that can play next year? We already have more players than minutes in the rotation. It makes a lot more sense to me to stash a player in Europe for a year, let him develope a bit on someone else's dime and go with what we got.
> 
> I just dont see us getting anyone that will be an improvement over what we already have. None of the guards that fall to us are better than Brown or Farmar, there are no big men in the draft better than Pau/Bynum/Odom/Powell. The only type player that I could see getting any PT would be a shooter, but my guess is Sasha or Ammo would still be better.


Dude, because our bench is weak. Kobe, Ariza, Odom, Pau and Bynum is a really strong set of five players but we can certainly improve around them. 

Ammo would be better? What planet are you living on, man? He's the worst player in the NBA. He won't get more than 3mpg and won't play in any more than 15 games next season, guaranteed.

We are paper thin at PG. Just because we have a lot of PGs, it doesn't mean we are deep. Collison could easily get minutes there. Patrick Mills' ability to shoot the ball from deep would also be valued on our team.

At SG, we have Kobe and then really nothing else. If Sasha has another season like that then we are better off with an empty roster spot than him. I think Ellington could replace Sasha as our backup SG if his struggles continue.

Then there's Luke Walton, who is just so mediocre it's ridiculous.

Another big man couldn't hurt because there's always the threat of one of our bigs getting injured and someone having to step in to replace them. Mbenga and Powell aren't exactly the cream of the crop. Sure, Powell is OK, but it couldn't hurt to try to find someone better.


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## Silk D (Feb 6, 2006)

I'd be pretty suprised if we didn't trade the pick, even if it's just for like a future one or something. this year's class is pretty weak. we don't want to guarantee a contract to someone that won't make our 15 man roster, and we certainly don't need to get any younger. Budinger's not going to fall, neither is Hansbrough, neither is Collison. There's a few decent guard prospects, but I doubt any of them would get time over Farmar, or even Shannon if he comes back. trading the pick is the right move.

There's one player, however, who I'm really hoping we get our hands on with the 42nd pick, and that's Danny Green. This team still lacks perimeter defenders, and he's probably the best in this class. He's also become a very reailable spot-up shooter, and has range out to the NBA 3. he sorta reminds me of a Devean George type player; great build, strong D, average athlete, good spot up shooter, limited off the dribble. He's much smarter than Devean, though. And let's not forget that he's been a vital role player on a winning team for the past four years. He's ready to play right now. I think he'd fit in nicely, but he'd be a reach with the 29th pick.


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## afobisme (Apr 29, 2006)

if we select a person who is projected to be a 2nd rounder, i think that means his contract is guaranteed, and might have to pay him more. the best choice would be to trade the 29th for a high 2nd rounder.


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## Silk D (Feb 6, 2006)

another guy that's fallen off the radar, probably due to his relative lack of improvement the last couple years, is Jeremy Pargo. Dudes built like Marcus Banks; bulldog, explosive athelete, pretty weak PG skills. probably would never make the team, but he'd be worth taking a shot on with our last pick. he's a great athelete, and you never know.

So I guess my ideal draft would be...

Pray Hansborough drops low enough to trade up and get em, otherwise, trade the pick for a future 1st with a team that might suck in a few years.

Take Danny Green with the #42 pick :gopray:

Take Jeremy Pargo with the #59 pick


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## Damian Necronamous (Jun 10, 2002)

Silk D said:


> I'd be pretty suprised if we didn't trade the pick, even if it's just for like a future one or something. this year's class is pretty weak. we don't want to guarantee a contract to someone that won't make our 15 man roster, and we certainly don't need to get any younger. Budinger's not going to fall, neither is Hansbrough, *neither is Collison*. There's a few decent guard prospects, but I doubt any of them would get time over Farmar, or even Shannon if he comes back. trading the pick is the right move.
> 
> There's one player, however, who I'm really hoping we get our hands on with the 42nd pick, and that's Danny Green. This team still lacks perimeter defenders, and he's probably the best in this class. He's also become a very reailable spot-up shooter, and has range out to the NBA 3. he sorta reminds me of a Devean George type player; great build, strong D, average athlete, good spot up shooter, limited off the dribble. He's much smarter than Devean, though. And let's not forget that he's been a vital role player on a winning team for the past four years. He's ready to play right now. I think he'd fit in nicely, but he'd be a reach with the 29th pick.


Collison isn't being projected to be picked until either the very late first round or early 2nd. He'll likely be there.

The thing is, no, the draft isn't very deep overall. However, it is very deep in terms of PGs.


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

I haven't been following the draft, so I have no idea how realistic this is, but I'm hoping we get Jeff Teague. He'll prob ride pine next year, but the following year he can become part of the three-headed PG, and Shannon Brown can take Sasha's minutes as backup SG until Fisher retires, and then he can slide back in as a PG. Teague would most likely be the starter out of those 3 in a few years.

The other player I would want is Austin Daye. No reason, other than he is from Irvine.  Bring the kid home!


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## Silk D (Feb 6, 2006)

Damian Necronamous said:


> Collison isn't being projected to be picked until either the very late first round or early 2nd. He'll likely be there.
> 
> The thing is, no, the draft isn't very deep overall. However, it is very deep in terms of PGs.


yeah, I feel bad for the guy. He would have been a lottery pick had he come out 2 years ago. and I see what you're saying, but I'm really unimpressed with the PG crop outside of the top 3 or 4. If Holiday somehow dropped, it would be a different story, but he won't. the question comes down to: would you rather have any of those guys over Shannon Brown? regardless of what we want, Phil (if he indeed stays) is gonna want Fish back. Nobody is taking Farmar's spot, so do we really want to give some rookie a guarenteed contract when we can have Shannon at a similar price? Or let's say Fish doens't come back, none of these guys can start, so what's the point? I'm just not crazy about the idea of getting even younger OR stashing some player overseas. why not just see what we can get later on?


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## jazzy1 (Jul 16, 2002)

Not a Collison fan at all he's fast but can;t shoot it and plays timid most times. Farmar is better than he is. 

I really like the danny green option he's a do everything type who doesn't do anything great besides defend. He'd be an ideal potential Battier type player. I think he'll play in the league 10 years. 

I want a 2 guard though a knock down shooter/creator who can spell Kobe and be somewhat productive. we gottas start scaling back Kobe's minutes this season. He's headed into year 14 and the knee issues are gonna really start becoming an issue eventually and we gotta get him off the court enough with a player who can consistently make shots. 

Sasha isn't it.


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## DANNY (Aug 9, 2005)

we'll likely draft some no namer and watch him grow to become a vital piece to a championship team. LIKE SASHA.


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## Tyrellaphonte (Feb 21, 2004)

and he's a 2 guard to take a bit of a burden off Kobe


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## Tyrellaphonte (Feb 21, 2004)

marcus thornton locks... i was havin a conversation with one of my boys today and his name came up.. He's nice. An animal of a shooter. He'd be perfect on the team, seein as our only true "shooter" (sasha) sucks balls


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## Tyrellaphonte (Feb 21, 2004)

weird somehow my posts got switched around


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## Silk D (Feb 6, 2006)

Thorton is pretty small. If we're willing to put him on the floor, you might as well put shannon and Jordan out there together. Again, another "nice" player, but not one worth guarenteeing a contract to. The list of players that could even feasably fall to us AND would be worth a first round pick is pretty short. Psycho T is the guy I want, maybe Calethes, MAYBE Ellington. Oh, and if Daye falls, snatch him up and send him to Europe.

Yeah, I'd definately like to see Sasha get replaced, but it most likely won't happen. He's got two years left on that deal, and his stock as at an all time low. Hopefully he'll have a bounce back year, but either way, forget about some rookie coming in and taking all of his minutes. So if sasha's still gonna be here, why get another similar player? Danny Green is definately much more of a three, but he can guard twos (very well) and knock down shots, so he can certainly play at the two, especially with Lamar on the floor.


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## elcap15 (Aug 8, 2006)

we should try and trade back our draft picks for Critt.

Huh . . . KennethTo . . . I know you like that one.


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## DANNY (Aug 9, 2005)

elcap15 said:


> we should try and trade back our draft picks for Critt.
> 
> Huh . . . KennethTo . . . I know you like that one.


or package fisher + 1st rounder to the grizzlies :rofl:


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## JerryWest (Jun 24, 2002)

elcap15 said:


> we should try and trade back our draft picks for Critt.
> 
> Huh . . . KennethTo . . . I know you like that one.


That would actually be reasonable. The wizards now have a team of 8 guards, 3 fowards and 1 center lol.


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## elcap15 (Aug 8, 2006)

yeah, I really dont think it would be out of the realm of possibility


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## Wilt_The_Stilt (Jun 7, 2002)

I would absolutely trade our 1st for Critt.

And I'm no draft expert but Ellington gives me a Kareem Rush vibe. I'm not sure I want him. And Danny Green reminds me of Devin Green.


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## elcap15 (Aug 8, 2006)

Can we trade draft picks for the rights to Juan Carlos Navarro's restricted free agent status?

I always liked that guy and with Pau on the team and our L.A. stauts, maybe we could bring some more Spanish flair to the team.


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## Jesukki (Mar 3, 2009)

DANNY said:


> or package fisher + 1st rounder to the grizzlies :rofl:


No fisher man!  
That Navarro thing would be awesome. By the way he played great in memphis. Why he left nba and got back to europe?


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Didnt he break his leg or something??


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## elcap15 (Aug 8, 2006)

JCN hated Memphis and wasnt getting along with the coaches I think. Plus, he wasnt making much money here, compared to what he could make in Europe. Im pretty sure that the Grizz extended him the qualifying offer making him a restricted free agent if he were ever to return to the NBA. With Pau and Los Angeles he would probably be more inclined to play for the Lakers.


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## DANNY (Aug 9, 2005)

so nbadraft.net has the lakers taking darren collison with the 42nd pick.

hope this comes true!


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## Silk D (Feb 6, 2006)

very dissapointed that we could have had Bliar and Danny Green, but instead opted for $4.5 mil and some crappy future picks. They're both college veterens that could have helped our bench right away. It's obvious we're in cost saving mode, but whetev...

off-season will still be considered a success if we re-sign Ariza, Odom, AND Brown. Hell, they just recieved enough money to pay for all of Shannon's contract.


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## MojoPin (Oct 10, 2008)

Ya know, if Bynum comes back legit again, then I really don't think we have much too worry about with our bench.


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## elcap15 (Aug 8, 2006)

I like what Mitch was thinking. HE got $4.5 mil and 2 future 2nd round picks in a year when we have little need for young players.

However, after actually seeing who fell in this draft, I think we could have gotten better value taking the picks. Stashing away Calathes or taking DeJuan seems like a better long term plan.

I guess my felings are, it was good move if this was the only way to bring back Odom/Ariza/Brown. But if it were possible to resign those guys and get one the guys I mentioned before (and a few I didnt) it would have been better.


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## afobisme (Apr 29, 2006)

so we could have gotten better value taking the pics, and having less of a chance to re-signing LO and trevor? strongly disagree.


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## sylaw (Nov 7, 2002)

I think we did a fine job with the draft. Sure we could have gotten Blair, which I think will be solid pro, but we need to resign our core of players that got us the championship. Rookies just aren't going to make enough of an impact for us in the immediate future. 

ESPN gave us a D, which was the lowest grade they gave out. I think whoever wrote that didn't realize we won the championship this past season and the team is fairly young. If we had a bunch of old guys, then it would be stupid not to look into the future. Right now, I'm fairly content with what we've got except for a couple of guys on the team.


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## elcap15 (Aug 8, 2006)

afobisme said:


> so we could have gotten better value taking the pics, and having less of a chance to re-signing LO and trevor? strongly disagree.


I guess you chose not to read the third and final paragraph that I wrote.


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## Silk D (Feb 6, 2006)

sylaw said:


> I think we did a fine job with the draft. Sure we could have gotten Blair, which I think will be solid pro, but we need to resign our core of players that got us the championship. *Rookies just aren't going to make enough of an impact for us in the immediate future.*


This would be true if we were talking about the guys we actually picked. But if we would have picked Blair and Green (both available), we would have gotten seasoned upper-classmen who are ready to step in. we'll be regretting not taking Blair when we play San Antonio and he gets 5 offensive rebounds on Josh Powell. 

the thing is, we could've had those guys and still had an equally good chance of signing Lamar and Trevor back. It's a matter of our _willingness_ to spend the money and possibly pay the luxuary tax, not our _ability_ to sign them back. and with that, I don't like the fact that we passed on possible contributors. The Lakers' franchise bottom line will be fine, especially following a championship, but they just didn't want to spend any more money than they have to. but whenever you can add cheap young talent and give up nothing, you do so, IMO. at worst, they're good thow-ins in trades.


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## Tyrellaphonte (Feb 21, 2004)

If we took Blair it would have had to be in the first round, giving him a guaranteed contract for at least 2 years. Tying up money to someone who obviously was overlooked (even if it was unfairly) due to knee problems would be stupid, especially when you can pick up 3 million dollars and a '10 2nd round pick from a team as ****ty as the knicks.. 

That 4.5 mill that we got goes straight to the owner who then re-pays it when we're stuck with the luxury tax. It basically assures us that we get our entire group back, which is a strong offseason in my opinion.. A whole summer for kobe to finally rest, Ariza to improve, Bynum to get healthy and confident and Pau to grow his beard will make us an even better team for next year when we defend the title.. It's not like we're the Celtics and we gambled on drafting someone like Giddens and Bill Walker (2 people the analysts said would help) and then couldn't re-sign an intricate part of our title run like Posey.. WE'll be straight next year barring anything catastrophic


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## Silk D (Feb 6, 2006)

Teezy said:


> If we took Blair it would have had to be in the first round, giving him a guaranteed contract for at least 2 years. Tying up money to someone who obviously was overlooked (even if it was unfairly) due to knee problems would be stupid, especially when you can pick up 3 million dollars and a '10 2nd round pick from a team as ****ty as the knicks..
> 
> That 4.5 mill that we got goes straight to the owner who then re-pays it when we're stuck with the luxury tax. It basically assures us that we get our entire group back, which is a strong offseason in my opinion.. A whole summer for kobe to finally rest, Ariza to improve, Bynum to get healthy and confident and Pau to grow his beard will make us an even better team for next year when we defend the title.. It's not like we're the Celtics and we gambled on drafting someone like Giddens and Bill Walker (2 people the analysts said would help) and then couldn't re-sign an intricate part of our title run like Posey.. WE'll be straight next year barring anything catastrophic


those knee problems that kept him out of all but ZERO games in college? gimmie a break. by not giving him a contract, we save a whopping $800,000 in each of the next two years. even with the additional money we got, that doesn't guarentee us anything. we're not anymore willing to overpay for Ariza or Lamar now than we were then. If they demand too much, we STILL won't give it to them. 

terrible example. once again, you're confusing an ability to sign with a willingness to sign. not to mention that neither of those players were contributors on a winning college team. The celtics not signing posey had nothing to do with the combined $1.5 million that walker and giddens made last year. they didn't sign him because he wanted a four year deal, and the celtics didn't want to give it to him.

I certainly agree that if we bring everyone back, we'll be fine. but there's no denying that we messed up in passing on these guys.


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## sylaw (Nov 7, 2002)

Silk D said:


> those knee problems that kept him out of all but ZERO games in college? gimmie a break. by not giving him a contract, we save a whopping $800,000 in each of the next two years. even with the additional money we got, that doesn't guarentee us anything. we're not anymore willing to overpay for Ariza or Lamar now than we were then. If they demand too much, we STILL won't give it to them.
> 
> terrible example. once again, you're confusing an ability to sign with a willingness to sign. not to mention that neither of those players were contributors on a winning college team. The celtics not signing posey had nothing to do with the combined $1.5 million that walker and giddens made last year. they didn't sign him because he wanted a four year deal, and the celtics didn't want to give it to him.
> 
> I certainly agree that if we bring everyone back, we'll be fine. but there's no denying that we messed up in passing on these guys.


You forgot about the fact that we sold the 1st pick prior to the draft so there's no way of knowing that Blair would have been there. I agree the knee concerns are way overblown. I would love to have the guy on the squad anyday.

Of course in a perfect world, we would have kept our draft picks and still sign everybody back but it doesn't work that way. Just because you have the ability to do something doesn't mean you have to do it. This is a business afterall and spending too much money wasn't something the boss wanted.


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## Silk D (Feb 6, 2006)

yeah, yeah, we're saving money. I get it. I said before that if we bring everyone back, then this will have been a successful off-season, but we don't have to act like this was a smart move to pass on these guys. it wasn't, plain and simple. just because you can put a team out there that's good enough to win a title this year doesn't mean you shouldn't try to get even more talent for this year and the next. especially with so many teams improving this summer. I, for one, could care less about Jerry Buss' bank account.


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

Silk D said:


> This would be true if we were talking about the guys we actually picked. But if we would have picked Blair and Green (both available), we would have gotten seasoned upper-classmen who are ready to step in. we'll be regretting not taking Blair when we play San Antonio and he gets 5 offensive rebounds on Josh Powell.
> 
> the thing is, we could've had those guys and still had an equally good chance of signing Lamar and Trevor back. It's a matter of our _willingness_ to spend the money and possibly pay the luxuary tax, not our _ability_ to sign them back. and with that, I don't like the fact that we passed on possible contributors. The Lakers' franchise bottom line will be fine, especially following a championship, but they just didn't want to spend any more money than they have to. but whenever you can add cheap young talent and give up nothing, you do so, IMO. at worst, they're good thow-ins in trades.


Blair won't do much against Odom and Pau. He won't be facing Powell unless one of those two are hurt. 

No matter who the Lakers draft they weren't going to crack the rotation unless Odom and Ariza aren't brought back. Hopefully getting rid of the picks means they intend to resign them.

But yeah, what you said about not caring about Jerry Buss's finances I agree with. In the end the guy can't act like he needs to penny pinch to resign a championship team.

Just won't hurt us really, so I will save my breath for something else.


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## Damian Necronamous (Jun 10, 2002)

Yeah, we definitely could have gotten Blair at the end of the first round and just declined Powell's option. I guess we decided we'd rather have $3M right now than Blair. Isn't money falling out of Jerry Buss' ears? Whatever...


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## Tyrellaphonte (Feb 21, 2004)

Silk D said:


> those knee problems that kept him out of all but ZERO games in college? gimmie a break. by not giving him a contract, we save a whopping $800,000 in each of the next two years. even with the additional money we got, that doesn't guarentee us anything. we're not anymore willing to overpay for Ariza or Lamar now than we were then. If they demand too much, we STILL won't give it to them.
> 
> terrible example. once again, you're confusing an ability to sign with a willingness to sign. not to mention that neither of those players were contributors on a winning college team. The celtics not signing posey had nothing to do with the combined $1.5 million that walker and giddens made last year. they didn't sign him because he wanted a four year deal, and the celtics didn't want to give it to him.
> 
> I certainly agree that if we bring everyone back, we'll be fine. but there's no denying that we messed up in passing on these guys.



All I'm sayin is theres a reason why he fell so far.. And dogg.. Quit comin at me like im some type of idiot.. And did you really think the Lakers knew that Blair would be available? They sold the rights before the draft.. Either way.. Blairs not gonna kill us, mark my words.. He might come in and be serviceable and make some nice plays but we have size for days.. Bynum, Pau and Lamar could all get a rebound over this guy easy. And he was on a winning team, but what did he ever really win in college? Did he even get to the Final Four? no. its not like we passed on Bowie and took Jordan.. we passed on an undersized and overweight power forward who we'd stash on the bench.

End of story


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## Silk D (Feb 6, 2006)

Teezy said:


> All I'm sayin is theres a reason why he fell so far.. And dogg.. Quit comin at me like im some type of idiot.. And did you really think the Lakers knew that Blair would be available? They sold the rights before the draft.. Either way.. Blairs not gonna kill us, mark my words.. He might come in and be serviceable and make some nice plays but we have size for days.. Bynum, Pau and Lamar could all get a rebound over this guy easy. And he was on a winning team, but what did he ever really win in college? Did he even get to the Final Four? no. its not like we passed on Bowie and took Jordan.. we passed on an undersized and overweight power forward who we'd stash on the bench.
> 
> End of story


it's never personal man, don't take it like that.

I'm getting tired of repeating myself. I know we don't "need" him. I know we're in cost saving mode. I know that at best, he's a rebounding specialist playing 15-20 minutes a game, probably less on this particular team. The point is he could have helped, and it would have cost us virtually nothing to get him.


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## DANNY (Aug 9, 2005)

yeah it was disappointing to see dejuan blair fall to the spurs in the 2nd round 

looking at his staggering rebounding numbers in college, he could of definitely could of helped us even in limited minutes.

phil jackson would have no problem finding minutes for this guy. he's virtually a dennis rodman clone. just fat and less crazy.


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