Official 2015 Top 5 NBA Draft Prospects Thread

 
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:30 pm    Post subject: Official 2015 Top 5 NBA Draft Prospects Thread

**Disclaimer: I know it is only preseason, but this thread is being created to simply talk about which upcoming players in the 2015 draft would best fit this Lakers team. It's simply a Laker discussion, and is not a tanking thread. If this idea bothers you, you should probably stop reading now...you've been warned***

With college basketball around the corner, I figured it would be a good idea to make a thread and talk about the potential prospects that will be entering the draft in 2015. Considering the Lakers are a Kobe Bryant injury away from being a lock for keeping their top five pick for the 2015 draft, who would you want the Lakers to go after? Remember, that if the Lakers are indeed drafting in the 2015 draft, then they're drafting in the top five. So this really makes it easy for us that like to follow the potential prospects, to only follow the top guys. There are bound to be some guys that come out of left field, ala Elfrid Payton, but it'll be fun to watch it progress. This upcoming class is definitely underrated, and to me, these are the obvious guys to keep an eye out for:

1) Jahlil Okafor: Obviously the number one choice. The guy looks like the real deal. His game would compliment Julius Randle's game tremendously. He measures out at 6-11, and is strong as an ox. He's also quite agile for his size, and he has a motor. Check out the Jordan Brand classic, and you'll see that he's quite the antithesis of JR. He gets up and down the court. If the Lakers happen to find themselves with the number 1 pick, they would have to go with Okafor. The Lakers would then have their 4 and their 5 positions locked up and would be the cornerstone of the franchise moving forward.

2) Emmanuel Mudiay: For those who wanted to draft Marcus Smart in this past draft, then this will be your guy. The guy is a bulldog. He gets after it defensively and packs an offensive punch as well, unlike Smart. At 6'5", he would be one of the taller guards, and again, would be a nice piece to pair with Randle. Would like to see more game footage of him to really get a good gauge of his game, but from what I've seen, his talent should translate to the NBA. A lot of comparisons have been made to Westbrook, but I haven't seen him with the same type of explosion that Russell possesses. To me, he's a taller version of Kyrie Irving. Unfortunately, Mudiay is playing oversees so it will definitely be harder to keep tabs on his progression through this coming season.

3) Stanley Johnson: Homegrown product, and would be the perfect player to take over the wing duties once kobe calls it a career. Just look the guy up, he's going to make a lot of noise this year in college basketball. He has a solid jumpshot, and seems to have no problem creating his own. It would be the ultimate passing of the torch, in a sense.


There's obviously a lot more prospects out there. Take Karl Towns for example, he's literally Andrew Bynum 2.0 in terms of low post skill but better mobility, and a decent midrange jumpshot. Knowing that the Lakers have a rich tradition in big men, there's no doubt in my mind, that if they do have a top five pick, they'll be going for a Center.

Who are you guys excited for in this upcoming college basketball season, and how would you see them fitting with a nucleus of Kobe Bryant/Julius Randle/Nick Young/(Jordan Clarkson?) moving forward?
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:49 pm    Post subject:

That kid Stanley Johnson...wow. now that's impressive. Okafor looks good too, his game and physique remind me of Al Jefferson. not bad.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:51 pm    Post subject:

Stanley Johnson is definitely going to be a beast. I would not be mad at all if we ended up getting him lol. Not only is he a great offensive player, but he locks up defensively as well
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:53 pm    Post subject:

If anyone wants to get a good look of the three prospects above, have a look at the beginning of the second half of the 2014 McDonald's All American game. All three of their talents are on display there.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:56 pm    Post subject:

It looks like there are some pretty good players if we happen to have our pick on draft night.

I know the team hasn't played well so far in the preseason but I'd wait a little while before talking about the draft.

If this team is still struggling by January/February then I'll care more about these prospects.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:58 pm    Post subject:

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/stanley-johnson

hmm ok, maybe the video i saw was misleading.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:01 pm    Post subject:

Mini Mamba wrote:
It looks like there are some pretty good players if we happen to have our pick on draft night.

I know the team hasn't played well so far in the preseason but I'd wait a little while before talking about the draft.

If this team is still struggling by January/February then I'll care more about these prospects.


Agreed. Just wanted to highlight some key guys for the tip off of the college season. Us Laker fans are not used to following college prospects. A lot of us didn't know much of the julius Randle's and Marcus Smart's last year, so maybe this time around we'll be more prepared IF the opportunity presents itself
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:06 pm    Post subject:

Inverse wrote:
Mini Mamba wrote:
It looks like there are some pretty good players if we happen to have our pick on draft night.

I know the team hasn't played well so far in the preseason but I'd wait a little while before talking about the draft.

If this team is still struggling by January/February then I'll care more about these prospects.


Agreed. Just wanted to highlight some key guys for the tip off of the college season. Us Laker fans are not used to following college prospects. A lot of us didn't know much of the julius Randle's and Marcus Smart's last year, so maybe this time around we'll be more prepared IF the opportunity presents itself


I knew about Randle and Smart but I didn't think we would have a chance at either one of them.

If we can get any of those guys you listed I'd be happy yet disappointed that we had another terrible season.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:06 pm    Post subject:

Fruscas wrote:
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/stanley-johnson

hmm ok, maybe the video i saw was misleading.


Out of the perimeter guys, it would definitely be Mudiay. He's the biggest game changer outside of Karl Towns and Jahlil Okafor.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:16 pm    Post subject:

okafor +randle set for next 10yrs with giving max to Klay
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:26 pm    Post subject:

Jim99187 wrote:
okafor +randle set for next 10yrs with giving max to Klay


No doubt that would be a scary team. In this day and age, PG's are a dime a dozen. Quality big men are rare. This draft has the potential to have three 7 footers in the top five (Towns, Okafor, Willy Cauly-Stein). Pair up one of those guys with JR, and the league will have a problem on their hands. I still firmly believe that JR is going to tear it up in this league. He's having confident issues right now, but once he gets 2 or 3 consecutive good games under his belt, he's going to really start imposing his will. I'm really impressed with Okafor too. The guy just bangs down low. Whatever team ends up drafting him definitely will propel themselves to serious players once he begins to develop.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:02 pm    Post subject:

I'd take towns over okafor. Okafor isn't a great athlete and that will limit his upside in the NBA. Towns is an exceptional athelete for his size and he can hit 3's. All he needs to work on is his back to the basket game. Kareem ?
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:04 pm    Post subject:

PICKnPOP wrote:
I'd take towns over okafor. Okafor isn't a great athlete and that will limit his upside in the NBA. Towns is an exceptional athelete for his size and he can hit 3's. All he needs to work on is his back to the basket game. Kareem ?


Towns is an intelligent kid too. Was a 4.0 student in high school, so you have to think that that translates over to some pretty good basketball IQ. I'm just fearful that he might turn out injury prone, but maybe that's just because his lanky frame reminds me so much of Bynum's
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:10 pm    Post subject:

Inverse wrote:
PICKnPOP wrote:
I'd take towns over okafor. Okafor isn't a great athlete and that will limit his upside in the NBA. Towns is an exceptional athelete for his size and he can hit 3's. All he needs to work on is his back to the basket game. Kareem ?


Towns is an intelligent kid too. Was a 4.0 student in high school, so you have to think that that translates over to some pretty good basketball IQ. I'm just fearful that he might turn out injury prone, but maybe that's just because his lanky frame reminds me so much of Bynum's


I don't think we have to worry about injuries with him. He's not carrying a lot of weight.


This video is from almost two years ago. Let's not forget he also played in the 2012 Olympics against team USA and Anthony Davis. I think with towns and randle we will have a pretty unique front court. We would be a nightmare with those two and a lightning quick pg
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:45 pm    Post subject:

PICKnPOP wrote:
Inverse wrote:
PICKnPOP wrote:
I'd take towns over okafor. Okafor isn't a great athlete and that will limit his upside in the NBA. Towns is an exceptional athelete for his size and he can hit 3's. All he needs to work on is his back to the basket game. Kareem ?


Towns is an intelligent kid too. Was a 4.0 student in high school, so you have to think that that translates over to some pretty good basketball IQ. I'm just fearful that he might turn out injury prone, but maybe that's just because his lanky frame reminds me so much of Bynum's


I don't think we have to worry about injuries with him. He's not carrying a lot of weight.


This video is from almost two years ago. Let's not forget he also played in the 2012 Olympics against team USA and Anthony Davis. I think with towns and randle we will have a pretty unique front court. We would be a nightmare with those two and a lightning quick pg

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 11:40 pm    Post subject:

Being that we have Houston's pick and our pick is going to be somewhere in the late teens or early 20s most likely.

If you're looking for a 'point guard' that's a passer as well as skilled, I'd strongly recommend Delon Wright. He'll come into his 2nd year of college this year. His first year he averaged 15.5p/6.8r/5.3a/2.5stls/1.3blks a game his first year, and shot 56% from the field(63% on 2 pointers) and that was in his first year. He has very sneaky quicks and a lightning fast first step. He has a very smooth, controlled and paced game, not too high not too low, has patience to wait to turn on the jets instead of having them on all the time. That's why I called his quicks sneaky because he doesn't seem quick till he shows it and when he shows it he's left the top of the key where he was defended at the rim already.

Flown under the radar for the most part and will likely get more attention this year. Dropped 23/12/6 on Fresno State at 75% shooting, 14/7/6 at 60% shooting on OregonSt, 27/11/9 on 58% shooting on Washington, 22/6/5/6steals as well as 20/9/5 on USC, 19/6/4 on Arizona, 17/11/7 on Colorado, 22/9/6 on ArizSt in 100% shooting. So he's got a lot of talent and he's flown under the radar a bit which is why he's going to hopefully be within our range unless he impresses more this year in his 2nd year and moves up. If he stays under the radar he could fall to the Lakers.

You may want to check him out. If Clarkson is a scoring point guard/shooting guard/combo guard, Wright is more of a pure point and both of them could be used effectively with each other or playing next to each other.

Just worth taking a look at. Particularly in the eve of Steve Nash's retirement.





1:04 to see him use his first step.

He's also from Los Angeles but that's beside the point =P I'm sure the Lakers have an eye on him but just in case some of you guys haven't seen him. He's also realistically gonna be within our range with Houston's pick. To me he'd be the best under the radar one we could make. If he plays like he played last year he's likely in the lottery though but if he stays under the radar he's a definite guy the Lakers should go after. He's a point guard built for what Byron Scott wants to run.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:08 am    Post subject:

Stanley Johnson is #1 on my board, the most complete player in the draft. At 6'8 240 lbs, he's a versatile SF that can score in a variety of ways and defend multiple positions. Reminds me of Leonard/Prime Artest hybrid. Mudiay would be 2nd.

Okafor is a post player and we have that already with Randle, and neither are known to be great defensively. I would rather draft WCS at C with the Rockets pick, he's better defensively.

Stanley Johnson, Randle, and WCS would be great building blocks for the future. Then in FA we can sign a PG.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:28 am    Post subject:

Towns is my guy at this point.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:31 am    Post subject:

Mudiay, good game in China.
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Pooh-Jeter-Discusses-Emmanuel-Mudiays-First-Game-in-China-4753
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:37 am    Post subject:

Fan0Bynum17 wrote:
Towns is my guy at this point.


I'm watching LeVert and Justise Winslow.

I know they're late lottery picks at best, but they're the guys I like.

Winslow is just a combination of Ruben Patterson/Stacey Augmon, but his D and motor are elite.

If we're looking at PGs, I'll take Juwan Staten for now. Barely 6'. Aggressive. Streaky J. 2:1 A/TO ratio. 6apg.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:50 am    Post subject:

Mike@LG wrote:
Fan0Bynum17 wrote:
Towns is my guy at this point.


I'm watching LeVert and Justise Winslow.

I know they're late lottery picks at best, but they're the guys I like.

Winslow is just a combination of Ruben Patterson/Stacey Augmon, but his D and motor are elite.

If we're looking at PGs, I'll take Juwan Staten for now. Barely 6'. Aggressive. Streaky J. 2:1 A/TO ratio. 6apg.


Do you think Winslow compares to Iguodala at all?
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:23 am    Post subject:

Fan0Bynum17 wrote:
Mike@LG wrote:
Fan0Bynum17 wrote:
Towns is my guy at this point.


I'm watching LeVert and Justise Winslow.

I know they're late lottery picks at best, but they're the guys I like.

Winslow is just a combination of Ruben Patterson/Stacey Augmon, but his D and motor are elite.

If we're looking at PGs, I'll take Juwan Staten for now. Barely 6'. Aggressive. Streaky J. 2:1 A/TO ratio. 6apg.


Do you think Winslow compares to Iguodala at all?


A little bit. There's some playmaking ability there. Iguodala was more dynamic as a ball-handler and at least had a resemblance of a jumpshot.

Winslow doesn't.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 11:59 am    Post subject:

To me Kahlil Okafor is the obvious number one. The guy seems to have Shaq like dominance in him. I love the way he bangs in the paint. I would have Mudiay at number 2. Honestly if the Lakers find themselves at all in the top 5 for this coming draft, they're going to get a player that will be with the franchise for years to come. This Lakers team is actually in a great position right now to absolutely be scary if the chips fall in their favor. Let's play devils advocate a little here:

I know it's early, but this years laker team is not blowing anyone's socks off. They will probably finish with a record worse than last years, and that's not too surprising considering the West got better, and we lost Pau, and our top 3 3 point shooters from last year. The Lakers can very well finish last or second to last in the West, with the teams giving them the most competition being Minny and Utah (BTW Utah is actually looking pretty damn good, all those years in the draft and stock piling young talent seems to be paying off for them). If the Lakers end up with an opportunity to draft Okafor, then they will have a roster in summer 15 looking like this

PG: ?
SG: Kobe
SF: ?
PF: Randle
C: Okafor

To me, summer 15 is huge. The Lakers can choose to go in 2 directions here. Option A would be to go out and get a established PG to pair with Kobe in the backcourt for Kobe's last hoorah. The ideal target via UFA would be Goran Dragic. Klay Thompson is the other obvious but no way GSW lets him go (RFA). Option B would be to stay dedicated to the rebuild and sign a bunch of scrubs to another 1 year contracts, which would be disappointing if this is what they choose to do again. If they go with option A, The Lakers in 2015 will then have a line up of:

PG: Dragic/Clarkson
SG: Kobe
SF: Young
PF: Randle/Kelly
C: Okafor

Again, that team isn't competing just yet, but it will give Julius some prime time minutes, and it will also begin to groom Okafor. Summer 16 will then be where the Lakers will finally reel in the big fish, and bring in KD, who will be an unrestricted FA. Assuming 38 y.o Kobe is similar to 36 y.o kobe, the Lakers will bring him back for one more year.They can then use the excess cap space they have left to bring some fire power off the bench like Danillo Gallinari, and Nene, who are both UFA, and probably have a market value of around 8-10 mil each. and in 2016, the Lakers will once again be competing for a Championship

PG: Dragic/Clarkson
SG: Kobe/Young
SF: Durant/Galinari
PF: Randle/Nene
C: Okafor/Ed Davis(?)

And that's how you use the NBA draft, coupled with strategic free agent signings to rebuild a contender in four years. This is big time pipe, but it's fun to be an arm chair GM
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:05 pm    Post subject:

I like Towns over Okafor because of his jumpshot, then you don't have to worry about Randles jumper. Towns did a drill infront of NBA scouts where he hit 78 3's in 5 minutes, the most a Kentucky player has hit in the Cal era. I think Towns is a bigger Kevin love.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 2:08 pm    Post subject:

Justwar wrote:
I like Towns over Okafor because of his jumpshot, then you don't have to worry about Randles jumper. Towns did a drill infront of NBA scouts where he hit 78 3's in 5 minutes, the most a Kentucky player has hit in the Cal era. I think Towns is a bigger Kevin love.


He has a 7 '4.5 wingspan so he has a lot more defensive potential than love. He's also a legit 7 footer who is developing the strength necisary to be a center. He's my guy for sure especially since he fits perfectly with randle. Randle

Towns can bring his man all the way out to 3pt land and open up the paint for randle to take his man off the dribble. He's also long enough to be a post presence similar to Bynum. You can quote me that this guy will be the best from this draft as long as he stays healthy.
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