Draft Pick Watch

[slinslin]

with our tough february schedule coming up it is possible we go winless in the next 5 weeks if we don't win at Sacramento.

In that case we might have the #1 odds because Washington, Cleveland and Charlotte are playing better than us right now.

 

[slinslin]

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[slinslin]

with a loss @Sacramento tonight coupled with a Lakers loss @Memphis the Sacramento Kings are on the verge of overtaking the Lakers for 4th in the Pacific Division

 

[JCSunsfan]

There are a number of players I would be fine getting: Shabazz, McLemore. I would be fine with Noel too, if the other two are gone.

So, our dream scenario is for the Lakers to miss the playoffs and their pick hits the lottery for #1. We draft #2 or 3 with our pick. Minny comes back and makes the playoffs at the end and then someone like Marcus Smart drops to us.

 

[slinslin]

Well I would not say no to a draft that resulted in us getting

McLemore/Shabazz + Noel + Smart/Porter

even better if we could make that Gortat for Perkins swap that would net us the Toronto lottery pick which must be a lottery pick and is only top 3 protected this year.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Well I would not say no to a draft that resulted in us getting

McLemore/Shabazz + Noel + Smart/Porter

even better if we could make that Gortat for Perkins swap that would net us the Toronto lottery pick which must be a lottery pick and is only top 3 protected this year.

In that case, I would want to keep Scola and Dragic and maybe look for some solid, locker room vet free agents. You can't field a team of all children.

I can see Noel playing along side of Gortat or Scola as a pf or center depending. The one thing I would do before drafting Noel is a thorough medical exam. That kids knees better be made of cast iron.

 

[95pro]

In that case, I would want to keep Scola and Dragic and maybe look for some solid, locker room vet free agents. You can't field a team of all children.

I can see Noel playing along side of Gortat or Scola as a pf or center depending. The one thing I would do before drafting Noel is a thorough medical exam. That kids knees better be made of cast iron.

cast iron is brittle

 

[slinslin]

If the Lakers lose against Utah you can rule them almost out of taking over the Jazz in the standings.

They would be 9 games below .500 while the Jazz would be 5 games over and the Lakers next game is against OKC.

It's possible the Lakers fall to 10 games below .500 and at that point it will be hard to even get back to .500 let alone the #8 spot they would have to beat out Houston, Portland and Dallas.

 

[JCSunsfan]

They certainly cannot lose their way to a playoff spot.

Hubie Brown evaluated the Lakers on ESPN radio this morning. He said that the do not have the speed to get into transition defense and all the good teams in the west are young and fast. He also said that they do not get Howard the touches he needs on offense. He recounted coaching Kareem (Lew Alcindor at the time) in Milwaukee. Said that if they did not get him a few touches on offense, he would get discouraged and not go as hard for rebounds and would start handing the ball off after rebounds rather than throwing it up court.

He said its just the nature of big men. They cannot pass the ball to themselves. They are depended upon wing players to get them the ball.

He also said that the transitions in the defensive sets are really poor. They were that way before DAntoni and are the same now.

Last, he said the bench for LAL is poor. The starters do not have the legs to run DAntoni's system without decent bench production.

Said he doesn't see any of that changing without significant personnel changes in trades before the deadline.

 

[slinslin]

If the Lakers lose Howard for another week they are looking at a 1-3 finish in january.

loss vs Utah
loss vs OKC
split games with us and New Orleans.

They would then have to finish 29-7 to end up 45-37.

 

[JCSunsfan]

If the Lakers lose Howard for another week they are looking at a 1-3 finish in january.

loss vs Utah
loss vs OKC
split games with us and New Orleans.

They would then have to finish 29-7 to end up 45-37.

They arent going to do that under any circumstances. Their only hope for the playoffs is a colossal failure of Portland and Utah, and no improvement from Dallas.

Every day, this looks better.

 

[slinslin]

27-9

sorry

 

[Neo]

If the Lakers lose Howard for another week they are looking at a 1-3 finish in january.

loss vs Utah
loss vs OKC
split games with us and New Orleans.

They would then have to finish 29-7 to end up 45-37.

I have my doubts on two points above.
First I doubt that the Lakers split with PHX and NO. The Lakers are struggling, but even with Howard out they should be able to handle the Future Pelicans and Suns. Both teams are just awful.

My bigger concern is the often repeated idea that a team will need to finish with 46 wins to get the 8th seed. While that was the case most years, this year it is looking like the current 8th-12th seeds are all trying to avoid the playoffs. Each of those teams is at .500 or below and none of them has won more than half of their last 10 games. This may be the year when the Western Conference 8th seed sneaks in with a losing record.

 

[elindholm]

While that was the case most years, this year it is looking like the current 8th-12th seeds are all trying to avoid the playoffs. Each of those teams is at .500 or below and none of them has won more than half of their last 10 games. This may be the year when the Western Conference 8th seed sneaks in with a losing record.

I agree. It looks like Portland is in free fall, so it's most likely Houston, Dallas, and the Lakers competing for the last spot. They're a long way from being out of it, as much as we'd love to have that lottery pick in hand.

 

[Neo]

I agree. It looks like Portland is in free fall, so it's most likely Houston, Dallas, and the Lakers competing for the last spot. They're a long way from being out of it, as much as we'd love to have that lottery pick in hand.

I would put Houston in the free fall camp as well. I doubt that any other backcourt tandem comes close to turning the ball over more often than Lin and Harden. The look just terrible.

 

[hcsilla]

No, Harden looks fantastic, he has a lot of TO's because he has to do everything without any help from his teammates except some occasional 3P-s made by their forwards.

 

[Neo]

No, Harden looks fantastic, he has a lot of TO's because he has to do everything without any help from his teammates except some occasional 3P-s made by their forwards.

I admit that Harden does look fantastic. What I meant was that Houston, as a team looks terrible. Harden and Lin are both trying to do way too much and the team just looks sloppy. The team seems to be in a free fall, despite Harden being rather amazing.

 

[hcsilla]

Yes, as a team they are quite unimpressive right now, Harden tries to keep them in the play-off hunt but it's questionable how long can he do it alone.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Every Lakers win makes me nervous.

 

[elindholm]

On the morning of Sa. 1/26, Hollinger's projections give the Lakers a 25% chance of making the playoffs. I still think that's low, but it's fun to keep an eye on.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns should be developing whatever talent they have and not worrying about winning games. However, they could help their lottery causes by beating the Lakers at home on 1-30-13.

 

[Superbone]

The Suns should be developing whatever talent they have and not worrying about winning games. However, they could help their lottery causes by beating the Lakers at home on 1-30-13.

Yeah, what happened to the youth movement?

 

[Matt L]

we need to lose more games

 

[Folster]

Dallas beating us and the Lakers losing to OKC will make for a great Sunday.

I was at a bar last night quietly rooting for the Spurs to win. It feels so weird.

 

[KloD]

Yeah, what happened to the youth movement?

I believe when asked last week, Hunter had said that nothing will be changing much for the next few games. Change will come, just not immediately.