re: Why we don't want to defer the Lakers pick

I dont care about how it affects the Lakers. I'm not making decisions based on what it does to them. IT's about what it does for us.



There are 9 teams the Lakers won't have a worst record than, unless Lebron got hurt for the rest of the season today, then they might challange that. There's 7 teams that are in the ballpark of them right now:
Indiana, Miami, Orlando, Utah, Chicago, GSW and ATL

I do'nt think they'll end up with a better record than Indy or Miami. Orlando hasn't been great since their hot start, but they've been playing better lately.

I would realistically expect their pick to land around 12-14.

and if it lands at say 13, then i absolutely would take it this year.
And if there's someone we really like, then i'd use pick 13 and our own pick, say 20, to move up to get that person.

There have been a bunch of high quality centers picked in the early teens over the last few years.

Derrick Lively #12
Jalen Duren #13
Mark Williams #15
Sengun #16
Isaiah Stewart #16
Bam #14
Sabonis #11
Myles Turner #11
Nurkic #16

There's one guy almost every year in that range that has turned into a good 5. Just need to get lucky and find that guy.