[:: LAKERS 2014 THREAD | POLL: Who Should Coach Next Year? ::]

[noblekane]

Nick Young says he's "pretty much" opting out on 710LA

Hope he takes all his bandwagon fans with him

 

[noblekane]

YES!!!!!!

Mitch gonna pay top dollar to keep him

 

[fudgemoney24]

Quote from that ESPN article:

"And, as D’Antoni pointed out, the Lakers could always beat the Spurs on Wednesday with Gregg Popovich resting his starters and make the win against the Jazz a moot point. Or the Boston Celtics could always beat the Washington Wizards in their last game and, coupled with a Lakers loss to San Antonio, create a coin-flip scenario to determine who gets the No. 5 position."

But we beat Boston both games this year. We hold the tie breaker so why would a coin-flip happen?

 

[sea manup]

so nick young opts out of his contract, lets everyone know he doesnt care about the teams future, plays the best basketball of his life just to screw with the teams future and somehow people are going to be upset at mitch for not giving him an extension 

 

[sea manup]

Quote from that ESPN article:

"And, as D’Antoni pointed out, the Lakers could always beat the Spurs on Wednesday with Gregg Popovich resting his starters and make the win against the Jazz a moot point. Or the Boston Celtics could always beat the Washington Wizards in their last game and, coupled with a Lakers loss to San Antonio, create a coin-flip scenario to determine who gets the No. 5 position."

But we beat Boston both games this year. We hold the tie breaker so why would a coin-flip happen?

head to head tiebreakers are only for playoffs, all lottery stuff is coinflips

 

[licensed to ball]

Why would he care about a teams future that doesn't care about his?

Do you not know how this world works by now? You gotta get what you can because owners are making 100's of millions off of these dudes even in a losing season.

 

[sea manup]

theres a huge difference between not caring about the teams future then playing hard to get a contract and not caring about the teams future, telling the media that you dont care about the future, knowing that winning will mess up the future, playing the best basketball in your life just to screw with a teams future, then laughing about it afterwards while telling people that you're going to opt out.

nick young is worthless trash

 

[rck3sactown]

You are ridiculous

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[tupac003]

Honestly all we can do is hope for the best draft pick possible. All of this other talk really means nothing.

Watch the lottery and go on from there.

 

[kingjaffejo]

Worthless trash???

Bro you're going waaaaaay too far.
Worthless trash c'mon my dude you sound ridiculous lol

 

[licensed to ball]

This dude is something else

Mad because a young man put himself first instead of caring about the teams lottery pick

Yes, he should of stunk up the joint and told the media he's going to sacrifice his stats and contract negotiations to help the franchise land a better player next year.

The same franchise that most likely will not give him a better contract and will be saying good bye to him this summer.

Just let it go man. These dudes like you said are all going to be gone. They shouldn't care about us, we shouldn't care about them.

They're 1 year guys, playing for a spot on someone's team next year. They have no business caring deeply about the Lakers franchise. Like you guys have said, nicks been all round the the league. It's just another pit stop for him. Why should he have cared about losing last night?

He was under contract as a Laker, so he went out and tried to win a game for the Lakers.

It was managements job to sit him if they really wanted to lose.

 

[sea manup]

replace nick young with oj mayo this season and nothing changes 

 

[licensed to ball]

Honestly all we can do is hope for the best draft pick possible. All of this other talk really means nothing.

Watch the lottery and go on from there.

Best post made in weeks.
Tupac you need to settle these dudes down they're about to commit suicide over a win.

 

[sea manup]

100% blame is on the management, yeah nick young is an idiot (always has been)

the job of any organization is to make sure dumb employees are not able to speak out and make the organization look bad

they should have done a better job with nick young, but hes gone so thats one less thing to worry about 

 

[senorroboto2k5]

Still don't blame Nick Young for playing hard but he shouldn't have made those comments. It makes it seem like he tried even harder to spite the fans who want the L... implying he wasn't trying as hard before

And if we don't have anything to talk about until the lottery we should lock the thread.

 

[licensed to ball]

Or we can all try to do better things with our lives instead of stressing over the lottery until it comes around...

 

[rck3sactown]

But you guys are so entertaining

 

[licensed to ball]

But you guys are so entertaining

Must be rough having such a boring team to watch.

 

[senorroboto2k5]

There are still plenty of things we can discuss (other than stressing out over the lottery).

 

[pmatic]

Aaron Gordon could push top five

Chad Ford's Top 100: No. 6
Strengths: Assist%, TO%, PF% | Weaknesses: 2-point%, Shooting
WARP projection: 1.6 (15th among top 100)
Comparables: Anthony Randolph (93.6), Maurice Harkless (93.6), Tobias Harris (93.3), Thaddeus Young (93.3)

The analytics perspective

Kevin Pelton: What stands out most in Gordon's stats is the absence of the expected steals and blocks. Gordon only ranks as average for a forward in both categories. That may have something to do with Sean Miller's disciplined pack-line defense, but teammate Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (a 2015 draft prospect) was as good or better in both categories.

The real question is whether Gordon's shooting can catch his defense. He's explosive in transition, but often struggled in half-court play, especially when playing small forward. Gordon's poor accuracy on jumpers dragged down his 2-point percentage, and his free throw woes (42.2 percent) are an enormous concern. Just two previous players in my database (Andre Drummond and Joey Dorsey) were projected to make fewer than half their free throws as NBA players, and neither spent as much time on the perimeter as Gordon.

Teams picking in the middle lottery will have to determine how much they can improve Gordon's accuracy, and how much it will limit his upside if they're unable to do so.

The scouting perspective

Amin Elhassan: Gordon is an incredible athlete, with a near 7-foot wingspan on a 6-foot-8 frame. He has great lateral quickness and an elite vertical leap; plus, he possesses a quick second jump. Offensively, he's a diamond in the rough, but has some very defined skills. He's an excellent finisher around the rim, and extremely active on the offensive glass. Gordon does a great job of getting out on the break and finishing. Arizona didn't run a lot of pick-and-rolls for him, a gross under-utilization for a top-shelf athlete with superior hand-eye coordination and footwork. It should be noted that he has an inconsistent release on his jumper, but it's not totally broken. Plus, he shot at a decent clip from 3-point range (16-for-45), and improved throughout the season.

On the defensive end, Gordon has impressive lateral ability and can move his feet and stay in front of opponents of any size. Also, if he gets beat he will fight to recover (often successfully). Gordon will use his length to bother, contest and often reject opponents' shots while acting as an on-ball defender. Also, he has great defensive awareness of the weak side, is able to keep track of both his man and the ball and can close out quickly and effectively without conceding blow-bys.

I like the Shawn Marion comparison for Gordon: He's not quite skilled enough to be a 3 and not big enough to be a 4, but he's a tremendous athlete and versatile defender who can overcome size and skill deficiencies. As he grows more confident with his jump shot, the rest of his game will grow accordingly.

The NBA front-office perspective

Chad Ford: Gordon may appear raw to the naked eye, but he's almost universally loved by NBA GMs and scouts. Yes, he's not a great shooter and struggles to create offense for himself off the bounce, but virtually every other part of his game screams "NBA stat-stuffer."

Gordon is a terrific defender, using both length and elite athletic ability to guard multiple positions. He's a great rebounder and shot-blocker for his size. His motor is also off the charts. And he can finish way above the rim.

Most scouts believe Gordon likely will never average as many as 18 points a game in the NBA, but he could be a guy who averages 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks per game. He's going to be a complementary player who can really help a team get to the next level. Look for him to go somewhere between No. 5 and No. 8 on draft night.

Gary Harris should land in lottery

Chad Ford's Top 100: No. 10
Strengths: Shooting, Steal%, TO%, PF% | Weakness: FTA%, Rebound%
WARP projection: 2.0 (eighth among top 100)
Comparables: Xavier Henry (96.0), Daniel Gibson (94.0), Terrico White (92.9), Jeremy Lamb (92.

The analytics perspective

Kevin Pelton: The key thing to know about Harris is that he won't turn 20 until September. He's only a couple of months older than Julius Randle, and is nearly a half-year younger than Joel Embiid. Compared to this year's freshmen, Harris has a much longer track record of success, making his lottery pedigree clear.

While Harris' comps aren't great, I prefer to compare him to Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards, who put up similar numbers but was just a little too young to be considered for similarity scores. Like Beal, Harris has a smooth, polished game that is well-rounded offensively. The comparison isn't entirely positive -- Beal hasn't shot as well as his stroke would suggest at the NBA level, and Harris too went through a surprising 3-point drought this season -- but given that Beal was the No. 3 overall pick, Harris belongs in the high lottery as well.

The scouting perspective

Amin Elhassan: Another prospect in this year's deep crop of combo guards, Harris is a 6-foot-4 shooter with decent athleticism. He can finish above the rim when leaping off one foot with a full head of steam, but generally does not get a lot of opportunities around the rim, and is just an OK finisher. His 3-point percentage fell this season after assuming a bigger role on offense, but he's still a very good shooter.

In transition, Harris does a nice job of running wide into deep corners and getting his feet set. And though he comes off of pick-and-rolls aggressively looking to shoot, he lacks the handle to get all the way to the rim, opting to pull up for the midrange jumper or pick up his dribble and look for the pass. He's not a particularly creative passer and isn't blessed with the best vision, but he doesn't throw the ball away and makes the simple play. Harris is very good in off-ball motion, playing cat-and-mouse off screens with defenders.

Like most Michigan State alums, Harris has good defensive instincts off the ball; he will sag and recover to his man on the perimeter and possesses good awareness. In terms of on-ball defense, he isn't the most imposing defender, and while he will try to fight over screens, he'll do so gingerly and methodically, trusting the help defense. Harris won't give you much in the way of rebounds, but he plays the passing lanes well and comes up with steals.

The NBA front-office perspective

Chad Ford: Harris is one of the true two-way players in the draft. He's equally effective on both ends of the court, which is a large part of his appeal. Harris can score in multiple ways, both by driving to the basket and from the perimeter and he's capable of guarding both backcourt positions as well.

His lack of elite size for his position is the biggest knock scouts have against him. There is also concern that his 3-point shot may not be as good as advertised. After shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc as a freshman, Harris dropped to 35 percent as a sophomore.

While Harris does have a few dings in his draft stock, he's widely regarded as the second-best shooting guard prospect in the draft behind Andrew Wiggins and should go somewhere between No. 10 and 15 on draft night.

I feel like spending a top six lottery pick on Gary Harris could be wasteful, but rewarding. He should be able to contribute right away while still having room to grow considerably which may or not may not be intriguing for Mitch and co. with Kobe fuming and Love looming.

 

[noblekane]

Best post made in weeks.
Tupac you need to settle these dudes down they're about to commit suicide over a win.

team kiss ***?

 

[noblekane]

But you guys are so entertaining

id love to see nick young on the kings lol

 

[senorroboto2k5]

But you guys are so entertaining

Must be rough having such a boring team to watch.

No wonder he finds us entertaining, his standards are pretty low

 

[CP1708]

I feel like spending a top six lottery pick on Gary Harris could be wasteful, but rewarding. He should be able to contribute right away while still having room to grow considerably which may or not may not be intriguing for Mitch and co. with Kobe fuming and Love looming.

Thing is, he seems like a lesser shooting Meeks, no?

And while I'm sure he could surpass Meeks, his ceiling isn't all that high, and at 6?

Gordon's ceiling could blow a roof off, or he could plateau and be just a decent rotational PF/SF hybrid, but that's more value at 6 than Harris would be.

 

[rck3sactown]

 

But you guys are so entertaining

Must be rough having such a boring team to watch.

I'm just bored at the help desk right now..... 

I have my ipad open playing Clash of Clans while surfing NT on my work PC and browsing instagram on my phone