Houston is my home, but i love and miss San Diego. I want to move back there and bring the Rockets with me b/c i know players will want to go there. San Diego Rockets. Nice.
This is what I expect if the deal happens. Having the #2 pick might get the Lakers over the hump in making a deal with Orlando.
Aqui viene Ricky Rubio: <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y2Nz8DWuMWA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The Wolves better milk this number 2 pick for all its worth, because derrick williams is not a star, in fact NOBODY in this draft will be a star.........
Hmmm that's a big shake up for the Lakers. In spite of all his injuries Bynum is still only 23. Not sure how I feel about that trade from the Laker perspective unless they are somehow swinging a deal for Howard.
explain to me how the large payroll works again in this case when the #2 pick carries no value in itself the twolves under the cap allows them to be able to absorb most of bynum's salary without having to send back equal value salary wise back. the wolves wanted to add a proven veteran, has nothing to do with salary. If Bynum made 6 million a year they probably would have still wanted him because injuries or not he has talent. such a lopsided trade for the Lakers not only will they get youth in a position they desperately need (PG - assuming they will draft either irving or knight) but they also shave a bunch of money off their cap in case the new CBA would force them too. The lakers made it to the finals with Odom and Gasol playing the 4/5 positions and probably can do again with the extra talent in either williams/irving/knight. They would just need to get a vet big man to help round out the bench. Ratliff wasnt a bad addition if he was able to actually play. A guy like Kurt Thomas would have worked wonders for that team. Pretty sure the lure of playing for a ring and LA will allow them to get 1-2 veteran to sign on the cheap
<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VU7RiLERJ-Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Should be fun!
depends on what your definition of 'star' is all-star? most definitely there will be a future all-star in this draft i can guarantee it all-nba 1st team - highly unlikely since there are only 5 of those players to begin with all-nba players (any team) - would not be surprised to see one of them crack the third team off a good season. a bit arbitrary but even in the weakests of drafts in the last 10 years: 2001- you had pau gasol, parker, joe johnson, zach randolph, tony parker, arenas, okur despite having eddy curry, kwame brown, chandler, griffin, diop, all in the top 10. 2002 - Yao, Amare, Butler, Boozer -- Nene (not an all-star yet but should be) 2004 - Dwight, al jefferson, iggy, josh smith, devin harris 2006 - aldridge, roy, rondo, lowry (i hope!) there will be an all-star in this draft probably multiple ones - the odds of any draft having franchise/all-nba type players is low to even begin with but even then i can see someone from this draft making the all-nba team just hoping that person falls out of the top 10 into #14 for the rockets.
You gotta hand it to the Lakers, they have the benefit of being in LA but there is no denying that they know how to evaluate talent. They have never really made a bad draft pick. Bynum was a good pick, Marc Gasol was a good pick etc. Arguably the only bad move they made was trading Butler for Kwame, but that got them Pau so it's not even a bad move.
I see this trade would hurt the Lakers in one of two ways. (assuming Kyrie gets selected the 1st overall pick) One way is if they decide that 6'8 Derrick Williams is a PF, it would eliminate the size advantage they've had over other teams in the recent years with Bynum and Gasol(both 7'1) The other way, is if they decide that if Derrick Williams is a SF, it would force them to move Odom to the starting line up. Really hurting they're already weak bench -- But of course having Williams at SF would move Artest to the bench, but the guy is past his prime and is in the down slope of his career.
C'mon. No way Minny gives up the second pick in the draft for a player with Bynum's history of injuries. Yes he has great footwork, hops, touch, and plays defense...Unbelievable package, but the downside risk is too high.
uhm what now? Kupchak (current GM) took over in 2000 since then: their first round picks: Mark Madsen, Kareem Rush, Brian Cook, Sasha Vujacic, Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar, Javaris Crittenton their second round picks: Luke Walton, Marcus Douthit, Ronny Turiaf, Von Wafer, Cheick Samb, JR Pinnock, Joe Crawford, Sun Yue, Marc Gasol, Chinemelu Elonu, Devin Ebanks, Derick Caracter Really in the last 10 years the real stand out players they have had were Bynum and Marc Gasol everyone else is really just complete mediocre/average talent that were given terrible contracts (if they even made it to the NBA) by the Lakers Bynum was the biggest risk they took and it paid off though he went a LOT higher than anyone imagined him going - chances are the Lakers could have easily traded that #10 pick for something lower + another pick and snagged Bynum -- Bynum wasnt even one of the 'green room' invites that year when he was drafted. Its one thing to say the Spurs drafted well, but not the Lakers if anything I feel that have drafted pretty average maybe even below average.
Why do people think this is such a great deal for the Lakers? Bynum is somewhat injury prone, but he's no Yao - he's played in 50+ games in each of the past three seasons. Even as the No. 3 or No. 4 in LA, he manages about 13 and 9 on 57% shooting over the past three years. He's also a presence defensively. On a team where he's a higher option and playing 35 minutes, Bynum probably averages 17-10 along with his 2.5 blocks and being one of the only legitimate paint cloggers left. I hate the guy and he's a thug... but I think he's worth substantially more than Derrick Williams (tweener in the Antawn Jamison mold) and I don't think it's even close. Especially for a team like the Lakers with a rapidly closing window of contention that doesn't have time for a rookie to develop over several years. I think Minnesota would get the better of that deal, and I doubt it's even that close. I think far too many people get warm and fuzzy over the concept of a "No. 2 overall pick!" without actually analyzing the specifics of the draft/players this year.
You're over analyzing it. No one is denying his talent or numbers. People just believe he's going to keep getting injured and turn into Yao. Injuries pretty much wipe out any great production. You can't keep putting up great numbers if you dont play. He's barely played 50+ games in his last 3 seasons (technically he only played 47 this season, not 50). He's had 3 different knee injuries and i dont think it's a coincidence that they started when his playing time became significant, ~30mpg. Also, you have to consider their window of opportunity. As good as bynum is, he may not turn into a superstar once he's got a green light and the old guys are gone...so do you potentially throw in the towel on their current window to keep Bynum for the future? Or do you try and squeeze out another ring or two now, by using him to get help in an area you need?
Unless you believe (as I do) the Lakers would do it to dump salary and use the #2 pick to complete a trade with the Magic for Dwight Howard. No way the Lakers dump Bynum for an unproven rookie. It's "win now" time for them. The Lakers won't trade Bynum unless it directly leads to them getting Howard.
