Been workin in my head why this Draft Pick is more important than the anti tankers want to admit. Hopefully, this will shed some light and not anger anyone. (gonna be long tho.......
)
Go all the way back. Lakers get Kareem. A former #1 overall pick. Stud. One of the 3 best ever. ELITE. PRIME. Comes to LA. Wins the MVP his first year in LA. No playoffs. Serious, wins the MVP, no playoffs. The next 3 years, he wins 53, 45, and 47 games. Lakers go 8-14 in the playoffs those 3 years.
PRIME Kareem Abdul Jabbar. PRIME. LA don't do **** for 4 years.
1978, Lakers make a trade, get a draft pick to be used in 1979, turns out, it was the #1 pick. Magic comes in, title, first year. Lakers don't win that title with just Magic. They don't win that title with just Kareem. They had both. Both, were #1 picks.
2 years later, make another trade, yet again get the #1 pick, get James Worthy. Now all of a sudden, they have one old dude, and 2 young bucks runnin wild winnin titles.
Kareem lasted 20 years or somethin close. Magic lasted 12, but he was goin to make it to 16-17.
Fast forward.
#1 pick, Shaq is signed. PRIME Shaq. ELITE Shaq. Ready to go. Solid young team around him. Good young core. 3 straight years, no title. Losing record in the playoffs. 14-16. Again, prime Shaq here.
At the same time, they pulled an 18 year old prodigy, prepped him to run the franchise post Shaq.
Know when they won the title? When Kobe assumed his place as full time starter, leader, and playmaker off Shaq's abilities. They don't win that title in 2000 without Shaq. They don't win that title in 2000 without Kobe. They blended together.
Each big man, free agent signing. ELITE. PRIME. Dominant. 7 years of losing playoff seasons, until the young, drafted, guards came to the rescue.
The YOUNG draft pick, is what drives the bus of a franchise.
Witness, the Spurs draft #1 Tim Duncan, and for the next 17 years, the Spurs stay in the mix. Ebbs and flows, roster turnover, etc, but the draft pick keeps everything running smooth.
Chris Paul did not go to the Clippers because he loved the franchise, he went there because Blake Griffin #1 pick, was there.
The Blazers THOUGHT they had it all, when they combined Roy, LMA, and Oden. in theory, they would have been right. 3 19-20 year old prospects, developing together over a decade? That's alot of wins.
The Thunder, #2, #4, and #3 picks, back to back to back years. Sprinkle in that extra #24 pick, and that's a ****** core.
Warriors, finally rebuilt proper with Steph, Klay, Barnes, 3 guys all in that 7-11 range.
The free agent signee gets you 7-9-10 years, maybe. Shaq came in 1996, young as hell. By 2004 he was old, breaking down, and cost 80 mil over 3 years.
Kareem came to LA young as could be. Won his first title with LA in his damn 30's.
Magic and Kobe kept the team "young" with their energy and their legs on the floor. Playin 46 minutes a night, and just askin for a little help from the big fellas.
When Kareem left, Magic was still there to guide the ship. They almost got another in 91, and they might have had more shots if he got to keep playing.
When Shaq left in 05, Kobe was still there to guide the ship. They kept working around him, and they got 2 more with another opp for one more in 08.
So recap. The building of the Lakers we love, signed a prime FA. Drafted an elite Guard. Then signed another prime FA, drafted yet another elite guard. (traded on draft day, same thing)
You MUST get that one draft pick to carry a team/roster/franchise for 15+ years. That is what we have a chance at this year. Not just #1, or #2, but anywhere in the top 5-7-9 picks. THEN, you can also bring in that FA to counter.
If we draft a PG, you sign a PF or C.
If we draft a PF or C, you sign a PG.
That's the puzzle.
We play the Nuggets tonight. They are nice. Got some young pieces. Ty Lawson, Faried, Gallo, nice players. Nobody wanna sign in Denver to play with them tho. Not elite. Solid, usable, workable, not elite. Those 3 guys would help you win a title. You get a top 5 pick, a top FA, and sign one of those guys from the Nuggets, you'd have a real nice start. But drafting mid first round over and over, ain't gonna get it done. It's .500 forever, and you out in round 1 year after year, here's your 17th pick. Hooray.
Even if Dwight stayed here, we'd need this pick to counter him. The 19 year old to his suddenly 27 year old legs/back and whatever else hurts him as he ages.
Yes, we COULD have had CP3 and Dwight and then at that point, you can sell draft picks to load up on vets to win in a 5-6 year window. Sure. But Stern told us to eat his ***, so that's gone now.
To do this right, we have to use the ONE asset we have. A potential top draft pick, in a LOADED draft. By now, you all know. This draft is deep, and talented. But by no means does that mean we can just chill and get the 15th pick and still use that piece to win what we all demand, Titles.
I don't need a Lawson, or a Faried. Nor does LA.
We need a Anthony Davis, Durant, Steph, Russ, Love, Duncan, Blake G, Dwight, CP3, Deron Williams, Dirk, Vince, Rubio, Harden, Bosh, Wade, Rose, LeBron type draft pick. A pick that alters a franchise.
Not just keeps it stuck in mediocrity.
Want MORE. Demand, MORE. We aren't winning the title this year. We ALL know that. So swallow your pride, and get on board with the best course of action for the franchise to recharge. History has proven over and over, you need a pick to carry you thru. You may want to point to the Heat. D Wade changed their entire history, and he was the 5th pick in the draft. A loaded draft. He combined with another player, got one title, and was sunk. Then he convinced two of his friends to come help him.
Maybe we get the 6th pick. Maybe he's not Jabari or Wiggins. But maybe in 3-4-5 years, he calls 2-3 of his buddies, and they want to come hang out in LA, and run this town like it was when they were growin up, watchin Shaq and Kobe, and then Kobe and Gasol.
This draft pick is HUGE for our future. Why would anyone, ANYONE, of you want to throw that away, for some December wins in a year we don't win a title anyways? What good will come of that? Pride? What are you proud of? Giving away a lottery ticket? Being noble? Bragging rights?
Naw. I want my dynasty back. And we know where it starts. Get one, then get the other. Then watch it bloom.
Then Figueroa.
