Why did the lakers think andrew bynum would be a good draft choice? he's still at least 3 years away from making any real impact. the lakers could have taken danny granger instead, someone who could have provided immediate impact for the team. with bynum their pretty much wasting kobe's prime also pjax will also be retired by the time he's effective. it make no sense.
The future? like i said their wasting kobe's prime, prime means right now. Also like i said phil will be gone in another 2 seasons. so what are they waiting for?
Well you have to ask yourself who would have been a better choice in the draft? There wasn't any big men in the draft to step right in and contribute this season. Instead the Lakers are taking a gamble and grooming Bynum to be a dominant center for a championship run. The Lakers took a similar approach when they drafted Kobe Bryant. They knew he wasn't going to come right in and make an impact. However, everyone was confident he would be a superstar and major contributor in two or three seasons. The mistake the Lakers made was in the MLE and trades. They weren't very creative with the offseason and didn't get anything for Vlade Divac's or Slava's expiring contracts. The Lakers should have signed Earl Watson, eventhough it was a 5 year deal. They could have used him all season, and then traded him later. The Nuggets were able to turn Watson into Reggie Evans and Ruben Patterson. The Lakers could have done something similar. Lack of vision and creativity is wasting Kobe Bryant's talent. I don't think he's peaked yet, but they are taking him for granted by not surrounding him with complimentary role players right now. This past offseason, there were was a lot of PGs and PFs available to help right away and would have still fit in the 2007 mystery plan.
We have to think of the Lakers after Kobe, he could be the next guy to carry our team. Big men are rare, as we learnt when we dealt Shaq. The Lakers have only just realised this now as we have been gifted throughout history by having the best big men in the league. At such a young age, Bynum has potential and with Kobe leading him, there is so much he can learn and offer in a couple of years. Kobe won't be as athletic and he will need somebody like Bynum to make the job easier for him. The second reason for drafting him could be the 2007 plan. We wanted to develop Bynum at a young age so he had already developed and had a couple of years experiance to make him a key part of a trade. I can't think of any other people we could have drafted that would have given us more options. We couldn't have drafted anybody who would have made a huge impact. Apart from Chris Paul, there is nobody that has played a key part in a teams success, not even the Kobe hater Chris Bogut.
I understand Bynum is a long term investment... but why sign Kobe to a $140 million dollar deal, then sign a $10 million a year coach if your building for the future. Seriously, if they aren't planning on building around Kobe then do the guy and the basketball world a favor and trade him. For all the work, and everything he's done for that organization, he deserves better than to have his prime wasted by a General Manager with some grand vision that doesn't include him...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ilive4ball:</div><div class="quote_post">I understand Bynum is a long term investment... but why sign Kobe to a $140 million dollar deal, then sign a $10 million a year coach if your building for the future. Seriously, if they aren't planning on building around Kobe then do the guy and the basketball world a favor and trade him. For all the work, and everything he's done for that organization, he deserves better than to have his prime wasted by a General Manager with some grand vision that doesn't include him...</div> I understand what you mean, but all we can do is sit, wait and have some faith. I personally, don't have the latter.
Personally, I thought it would be better to draft someone who can step in and make an immediate impact, but you have to credit the Lakers organization for selecting the player who could end up the best. Bynum is far away from being an NBA-caliber center, but if he develops properly, he can be a stud. Laker fans should no first hand how important a dominant big man is. I hear he's a hard worker, so if Bynum wants to be good, he'll be good. The only question is when.
Kobe Bryant is only 26, turning 27 this year. Most players don't hit their prime til about 29-33. By the time you predict Bynum to make an impact, Kobe will just be hitting his prime...and that will be a beautiful thing if the Lakers can get some more pieces for the future.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting K8B:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe Bryant is only 26, turning 27 this year. Most players don't hit their prime til about 29-33. By the time you predict Bynum to make an impact, Kobe will just be hitting his prime...and that will be a beautiful thing if the Lakers can get some more pieces for the future.</div> Actually Kobe is 27 turning 28. By age 33 a player is usually on the downfall of their career. Look at Shaq for example. He is 33 soon to be 34 in a few days and it is pretty obvious he has slowed down from when he was 27. The Lakers time is slowly ticking away right before everybodys eyes. If the 07 plan works, I think it will be all worth it, but if it turns out to be a wild goose chase I think we will all see a very large amount of angry Laker fans.
My bad on the age, I can't add years right Still, by the time Bynum comes into his own in the league, not his prime, but his own, Kobe will be in the middle of his prime, or the peak of his prime. You also have to factor in Kobe's conditionin compared to other players. Kobe is the hardest working player in the league, he'll be way more effective at 33 than Shaq is*. *I'm not sparking a debate here, don't take it that way.
it was pretty much a high risk huge reward type thing. the guy is only what, 18. he is already 7 foot and has room to grow even taller. not to mention laker great KAB is teaching him. he is definetly a work in progress, but like i have said, i wouldnt be surprised to see him be a star one day
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">Personally, I thought it would be better to draft someone who can step in and make an immediate impact, but you have to credit the Lakers organization for selecting the player who could end up the best. Bynum is far away from being an NBA-caliber center, but if he develops properly, he can be a stud. Laker fans should no first hand how important a dominant big man is. I hear he's a hard worker, so if Bynum wants to be good, he'll be good. The only question is when.</div> The point is, there was no immediate impact big man in last year's draft. The Lakers used their 2nd round pick add immediate help when they selected Turiaf. Unfortunately, he had his heart ailment, so he's only now playing with the team.
