Quote:
Originally Posted by SkinsandTerps
Problem is the Lakers would have to overspend to trade for a PG at this point. They have no trade leverage.
They are forced to make sure that Nash is the guy.
Lakers are terrible on draft day, and have been for quite some time.
No depth in their coaching staff to develop players in recent years on top of it does not help the cause.
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I don't think that the Lakers are terrible at drafting talent. I think it's more a question of how the Lakers view the draft. They don't keep picks. They use them to leverage trades. Because the Lakers are almost always good, they are always drafting at the end of the draft. They are not going to get the chance to draft anybody who can impact their team. As example, here are the last 10 years of drafts for the Lakers:
2002 1 27 Chris Jefferies (traded to Toronto)
2003 1 24 Brian Cook
2003 2 32 Luke Walton
2004 1 27 Sasha Vujačić
2004 2 56 Marcus Douthit
2005 1 10 Andrew Bynum
2005 2 Ronny Turiaf
2005 2 39 Von Wafer
2006 1 26 Jordan Farmar
2006 2 51 Cheikh Samb
2007 1 19 Javaris Crittenton
2007 2 40 Sun Yue
2008 2 58 Joe Crawford
2009 1 29 Toney Douglas
2009 2 42 Patrick Beverley (Developmental)
2009 2 59 Chinemelu Elonu
2010 2 43 Devin Ebanks
2010 2 58 Derrick Caracter (Developmental)
2011 2 41 Darius Morris (Developmental)
2011 2 46 Andrew Goudelock (Developmental)
2011 2 56 Chukwudiebere Maduabum (Developmental)
2011 2 58 Ater Majok (Developmental)
2012 2 60 Robert Sacre (Developmental)
All the guys highlighted are still in the league. The last few guys on this list are playing in developmental leagues and most of the rest of these guys have signed to play over seas. Mostly because of the NBA lockout. I don't think that it's accurate to say that the Lakers have not drafted well. In fact, i think they are very good at evaluating talent, especially when you consider that they have not had a 1st round pick since 2009 and that they have only had 7 first round picks since 2002 with the highest of those picks being #10 in 2005 (Andrew Bynum). If you look at where they have picked, it's at the bottom overwhelmingly.
It is not that they have not drafted well so much as it is a case of drafting talent that can not break into the starting lineup. I think that's a different thing.
JMO of course.