Saver, I have no idea where you’re going with this, maybe I’m the one not getting it now.
But what is your deal with “tanking is now exposed” What in the blue **** are you talking about? If Julius Randle comes out and balls his *** off and wins ROY and turns into the next Z-bo, is Tanking suddenly a good idea again?
Dude, we made a top 7 pick, on a player who would have been the #1 draft pick last year. We got him at 7.
Andrew Bynum looked like a wasted pick at 10, and he turned out to be a skilled C when healthy. Kobe looked like a reach of all reaches at 13, for a High School guard, and I think he worked out alright.
Randle, while not my first choice, can still be a solid player. Ska, is thrilled to death with him. I’m looking around for some Kentucky fans I know to hear what they think as well. P clearly knows his stuff, and likes Randle offensively, and is just worried how his defense will translate. A valid concern. But he’s not a finished product either. He will have limitations, but he can also improve other areas and become at least somewhat useable on that end. And if he is as dog as he says he, maybe, just maybe he will learn something from Kobe on how to work, and how to push to improve every day. And if he does that, even slightly, how on earth are you going to say tanking isn’t worth that?
What you are clearly not getting is, we were not winning a title last year. Not even remotely close. We could have played hard all year long, we wouldn’t even sniff the playoffs. The Wolves and Suns didn’t even make it, and they were way ahead of us. The absolute best we could have hoped for is 11th in the West. At that point, we end up with the 12th pick or some ****, why in the hell do you think that’s better than landing at 7, and choosing between Randle and Vonleh? Mitch made his pick, that’s that. If Vonleh comes out and destroys, well, that sucks, and adds more fuel to the Mitch is out of his head lately camp, but if Randle does his job, even if Vonleh shows out, if Randle just does what he does, then we’ll be ok. Just because you are disappointed in Randle, doesn’t mean the plan of attack was wrong. YOUR plan of attack would have netted us a worse pick, are you not grasping that?
He’s not my first choice, but he’s still a talented 19 year old PF with an NBA body. Kid is a solid 6-9, 250. That’s NBA right there. And he led his team to the title game as a freshman. Double doubles in damn near every game. And we got him at 7!!!!!! Hell, us pro tankers wanted us to get into the top 3-4, but the Lakers wouldn’t embrace that idea. But at 7, we still pulled a kid with a lot of potential. Now it’s up to him to work for it, and it’s up to us to teach him. Get Madsen in there with him, get AC Green in practice, get Kobe on him, have Cap talk to him, have Magic give him a call, etc. Robert Horry, Worthy, and on and on. It’s the Lakers job now to make that kid great. As much as I wanted Vonleh, what he gonna lean on in Charlotte? He might not have the support that Randle will have. You are overlooking all these factors, and trying to blame or expose us pro tankers, for…..I have no idea why.
Again, there was a clear cut top 8 in this draft. We drafted 7th. So we lost the ability to “choose” from all the top guys, but as I said, repeatedly, we wanted inside that 3-4 range. How is that a “bad” idea, when as you said, we have no impact on the actual team? You say the team isn’t going to listen to me, or us as fans, then blame me for them getting the 7th pick, and taking Randle. Huh?
You lashin out at us, and don’t even know why. You just throwin stuff at a wall to see what sticks. Sorry man, you got nothin to be angry about. We got a good player, just not the one some of us would have preferred. Some did prefer Randle, that’s just how it is.