6/26/2014 Laker Historic moment

[kobe4life]

You heard it hear first and mark the date 6/26/2014 down as the day in history where the Lakers take back the league. Spur fans be afraid be very afraid because tomorrow is the day where the Lakers get their next superstar to team up with God. The Lakers will be a title team again after tomorrow.

[IrisHockey]

It'll be good for the NBA. There's a reason the 90's sucked

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

It'll be good for the NBA. There's a reason the 90's sucked

MJ, Pippen, and Grant/Rodman were just too dominant...

[Kool Bob Love]

June 15, 2014 >>>>>>> ___________

[xellos88330]

Gotta take back L.A. first. People are flocking to the Clippers.

[Thread]

Gotta take back L.A. first. People are flocking to the Clippers.

That's just to see the lynching. People love that shit.

[Splits]

Did I miss the Kobe retirement announcement, giving back $48.5 in cap space to allow for a true rebuild?

[ambchang]

Which 7th pick became a franchise level player? I can think of Stephen curry, Kevin Johnson, Chris mullin, Bernard king and Havlicek. Any other guys worth mentioning?

[Spurs9]

But always remember 48, tee hee

[Kool Bob Love]

Which 7th pick became a franchise level player? I can think of Stephen curry, Kevin Johnson, Chris mullin, Bernard king and Havlicek. Any other guys worth mentioning?

Short answer....NO.

[xellos88330]

That's just to see the lynching. People love that shit.

I can definitely see pissed off Lakers fans giving Sterling the Mussolini treatment after taking over LA.

[baseline bum]

Which 7th pick became a franchise level player? I can think of Stephen curry, Kevin Johnson, Chris mullin, Bernard king and Havlicek. Any other guys worth mentioning?

If they can get Randle at 7 that would be huge though.

[RD2191]

Gotta take back L.A. first. People are flocking to the Clippers.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWQ3YOMtJaM/UEsnJKgjdkI/AAAAAAAACo0/miO-N7XEaFA/s320/black-kid-oh-snap.gif

[Splits]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bq_5AEYCAAAx7HD.jpg

[Cry Havoc]

If they can get Randle at 7 that would be huge though.

Huge as in, "We'll still be a cellar dweller in the loaded West but he might help us get to 38 wins." :lol

[baseline bum]

Huge as in, "We'll still be a cellar dweller in the loaded West but he might help us get to 38 wins." :lol

Huge as in finally having a quality player on the roster.

[jeebus]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LhKJupasfJU/TnbdOGNDtrI/AAAAAAAAAeM/HwJt_DEtlv0/s1600/10-praisegod.jpg

[moisaenz]

to call a player God is ridiculous..

[The Batman]

With the 7th pick of the 2014 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select......Klay Thompson

[HemisfairArena]

Lakers big move will be signing a guy like Stephenson,,,my how the mighty have fallen.

[Thread]

Lakers big move will be signing a guy like Stephenson,,,my how the mighty have fallen.

You were down there with us not a fortnight ago. Nobody is immune.

[HemisfairArena]

You were down there with us not a fortnight ago. Nobody is immune.

I'm as close to 10 foot tall and bulletproof as you can get,,,,I am immune incarnate.

[Thread]

I'm as close to 10 foot tall and bulletproof as you can get,,,,I am immune incarnate.

A fortnight ago you were in the shit with us.

[kobe4life]

Huge as in, "We'll still be a cellar dweller in the loaded West but he might help us get to 38 wins." :lol

You laugh right now but next year the Lakers will be a 60 win team can't wait to see the look on your face when that happens.

[Thread]

You laugh right now but next year the Lakers will be a 60 win team can't wait to see the look on your face when that happens.

It would be the 16 after that which would change their facial expression & earth's orbit. Though it would probably get my personal information released again. tee, hee.

[Cry Havoc]

It would be the 16 after that which would change their facial expression & earth's orbit. Though it would probably get my personal information released again. tee, hee.

Not by my hand, D. I don't play that game.

[Cry Havoc]

A fortnight ago you were in the shit with us.

Except, you know, with potential. A shit covered diamond is a far sight better than a pail o' turds.

[spurraider21]

With the 7th pick of the 2014 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select......Klay Thompson
klay thompson is better than most #7 picks tbh... the only reason why the Thompson thing would be silly is that you are missing out on the cheap years of the deal. the 2014-15 season is the last on his rookie deal, at which point you will need to pay him

[Thread]

Except, you know, with potential. A shit covered diamond is a far sight better than a pail o' turds.

Sure. Miami had oodles of potential a fortnight ago. Now he's light at 2 and the lights are still on in CT..

[Arcadian]

:lmao

Laker fans in desperation mode...

Sorry...you still have to witness the ring ceremony in November...and they'll probably schedule the Lakers vs. Spurs for it.

[TampaDude]

:lmao

Laker fans in desperation mode...

Sorry...you still have to witness the ring ceremony in November...and they'll probably schedule the Lakers vs. Spurs for it.

^ this, tbh

I can't wait to see that shit in person! :hat

[Medvedenko]

We're fucked for the foreseeable future. Once Kobe is gone only then a new era will be ushered in.

[Mao Zedong]

There's still Lakers fans? I though they all misteriously dissapeared after the Clippers got more fans in the last months.

I know there is a correlation between this two facts, I just can't figure it out yet. :P

[Thread]

There's still Lakers fans? I though they all misteriously dissapeared after the Clippers got more fans in the last months.

I know there is a correlation between this two facts, I just can't figure it out yet. :P

0-2 and ready to play him some b-ball.

You got some fuckin' nerve, slope.

[spursparker9]

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/idgaf.gif

[kobe4life]

I told you spurfans today would be historic. The Lakers got a 20-10 big man in Randle who will shit on Duncan. Its over now God-Randle will destroy the NBA.

[Splits]

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/assets/3777753/RussSLAM.gif

[Splits]

The real concerns are on the other end of the floor. Randle averages 0.1 steals and 0.7 blocks, awful for a big man with his athleticism. Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider has found (http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2013/story/_/page/PerDiem-130624/ranking-prospects-warp) that block and steal rates in college are important tools when projecting big men prospects. I suspect that's because they capture the problems players with comparatively short arms can have.

Individual defense might be an even bigger issue. It's not something I recognized immediately, because so few college big men have the length and skill to score over the top of Randle. For me, the eye-opening experience was Kentucky's loss to Baylor (http://basketball.realgm.com/article/231024/The-Development-Of-Big-Men-Prospects), when he was matched up with fellow Dallas-area big man Isaiah Austin (http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/174373/isaiah-austin) (7'1 and 225 pounds with a 7'3 wingspan).
Austin talked a bunch of trash beforehand (http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/baylor-bears/20131205-baylor-basketball-player-isaiah-austin-kentucky-is-not-better-than-us-in-any-way-shape-or-form.ece), like he knew Randle had no chance of guarding him, and that's exactly how it played out in the few first minutes. Austin took Randle to the block and hit a fadeaway, and then he went out to the perimeter and hit a pull-up three. At halftime, John Calipari switched defensive assignments, putting Willie Cauley-Stein (http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175897/willie-cauley-stein) on Austin and hiding Randle on Baylor's other big man. Few NCAA teams have two NBA-caliber big men, so Randle's individual defense is not a huge concern for Kentucky. That won't be the case at the next level, though.


It's hard to build around a player with Randle's skill-set. He is a post-scoring big man who can't protect the rim. If you play him with a big man who can't stretch the floor, there won't be much room in the paint for him to operate. If you play him with another big man who can't protect the rim, your defense will be limited. There aren't many NBA centers who can shoot, block shots and play hi-low to preserve proper spacing. Randolph didn't find much team success until he started playing withMarc Gasol (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/24227/marc-gasol), one of those rare birds. The same dynamic has blunted the impact Al Jefferson (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/4369/al-jefferson) andDeMarcus Cousins (http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/101096/demarcus-cousins) make on their teams despite gaudy offensive numbers.

And while Randle should average a double-double in the NBA, his style of play is not conducive to the way the league is going. More teams are spreading the floor and playing with four shooting threats, which won't work with Randle, since he doesn't have the defensive chops to be the lone big man on the floor. He will have to be on a two-post team like Indiana or Memphis, one that slows the tempo, maintains spacing and throws the ball inside. However, that's a style many guards aren't comfortable managing.

In the right situation, playing next to one of those rare floor-spacing and rim-protecting big man like Serge Ibaka (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/51539/serge-ibaka) or Anthony Davis (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/157860/anthony-davis), Randle could be a really good player on a championship-caliber team. In the wrong one, though, drafting Randle could end up setting a team back significantly. In the NBA, the shorter your arms, the harder it is to reach your ceiling.