Okafor >>> Towns

[9erempiree]

I hope Minny select Towns. I want Okafor because of his scoring skill set. He is a very skilled big man and offense trumps defense in this case. You can teach a guy how to play defense but you cannot teach a guy to be a deadly post scorer.

We don't need another Deandre Jordan 2.0

On this note, welcome to Los Angeles!

[noob cake]

Minnesota will steal Okafor

[brownmamba00]

Randle/Okafor will get destroyed on D

Get Russell and go after Gasol for the 5 spot

[9erempiree]

Minnesota will steal Okafor

I hope not but it is a possibility. They are both good Centers but since Towns is rated higher, I hope Minny goes the easy route and just select him.

[Jameerthefear]

OP is a moron

[Ca$H]

I hope Minny select Towns. I want Okafor because of his scoring skill set. He is a very skilled big man and offense trumps defense in this case. You can teach a guy how to play defense but you cannot teach a guy to be a deadly post scorer.

We don't need another Deandre Jordan 2.0

On this note, welcome to Los Angeles!

Randle and Okafor is a terrible combo on defense. The Lakers are better off with Towns.

[noob cake]

Randle and Okafor is a terrible combo on defense. The Lakers are better off with Towns.

Randle will not prevent Lakers from picking the BPA.

[PJR]

Lol...Not even Coach K would agree with you.

Really hope the Lakers get Okafor. Okafor and Randle is going to be hilariously bad defensively.

[9erempiree]

Not sold on Randle. He's not a guy you can build around. Towns or Okafor are players you can build around and I don't care if the combination of Okafor and Randle might be bad when we don't know if Randle is going to be the player we expect him to be.

Randle doesn't come into the equation in regards to this pick.

[CJ Mustard]

Offensive bigs who aren't great defensively are not more important than defensive bigs in this league. There's a reason Al Jefferson/Brook Lopez teams never go anywhere, while Dwight Howard/Marc Gasol teams are always pretty successful. Plus, Towns is good offensively himself. A better outside shooter than Okafor and a solid post game.

[CJ Mustard]

I hope Minny select Towns. I want Okafor because of his scoring skill set. He is a very skilled big man and offense trumps defense in this case. You can teach a guy how to play defense but you cannot teach a guy to be a deadly post scorer.

We don't need another Deandre Jordan 2.0

On this note, welcome to Los Angeles!
Okay, you've never watched Towns play. He is nothing like DeAndre on either end. He's an equal or better shotblocker, significantly better 1 on 1 post defender, and offensively he's pretty much the opposite of DJ. He has a solid jumper, he's a very good FT shooter, and he actually can score on the block.

[ClipperRevival]

Offensive bigs who aren't great defensively are not more important than defensive bigs in this league. There's a reason Al Jefferson/Brook Lopez teams never go anywhere, while Dwight Howard/Marc Gasol teams are always pretty successful. Plus, Towns is good offensively himself. A better outside shooter than Okafor and a solid post game.

Exactly. You can argue that a dominant defensive big is more important than a big with an offensive game but can't play D. And yes, Towns has touch, is coordinated and has light feet. He has a higher ceiling.

[Kingwillball]

I hope Minny select Towns. I want Okafor because of his scoring skill set. He is a very skilled big man and offense trumps defense in this case. You can teach a guy how to play defense but you cannot teach a guy to be a deadly post scorer.

We don't need another Deandre Jordan 2.0

On this note, welcome to Los Angeles!

Jordan lol.. Towns is way more skilled than Jordan has 3 pt range and and is a great ft shooter..terrible comparison

[9erempiree]

Jordan lol.. Towns is way more skilled than Jordan has 3 pt range and and is a great ft shooter..terrible comparison

3 pt range? Really?

I don't even care about those 15 footers that he make. They are nice and all but I prefer a Center to play inside more. This is not a knock on him either.

Who ever the Lakers pick is fine with me.

[bballnoob1192]

I hope Minny select Towns. I want Okafor because of his scoring skill set. He is a very skilled big man and offense trumps defense in this case. You can teach a guy how to play defense but you cannot teach a guy to be a deadly post scorer.

We don't need another Deandre Jordan 2.0

On this note, welcome to Los Angeles!
Towns is a better FT shooter than Okafor :facepalm :roll: :roll:

[Kingwillball]

3 pt range? Really?

I don't even care about those 15 footers that he make. They are nice and all but I prefer a Center to play inside more. This is not a knock on him either.

Who ever the Lakers pick is fine with me.

Wasn't wanted/ needed to use that part of his game..

http://youtu.be/71te_DSIDWU

http://youtu.be/8SU4_WvM04E

Btw- I saw him knock down five 3 pointers in a HS game..

[9erempiree]

Towns is a better FT shooter than Okafor :facepalm :roll: :roll:
:facepalm

My Deandre comments was in regards to how he is more known for his defensive prowess than his offensive game, as compared to Okafor.

[9erempiree]

Wasn't wanted/ needed to use that part of his game..

http://youtu.be/71te_DSIDWU

Btw- I saw him knock down five 3 pointers in a HS game..

Just stop it.

When speaking of Centers, I don't think anyone cares about the 3 ball. That is not their job.

Now if we were talking about his range up to 15 feet then we can discuss this.

[Kingwillball]

Just stop it.

When speaking of Centers, I don't think anyone cares about the 3 ball. That is not their job.

Now if we were talking about his range up to 15 feet then we can discuss this.

Just saying he has nice touch from the outside will be able to knock down jumpers pick and pops and also play in the post as well has a nice little jump hook and up and under move.

[9erempiree]

Just saying he has nice touch from the outside will be able to knock down jumpers pick and pops and also play in the post as well has a nice little jump hook and up and under move.

He has the bigger upside but small legs. I am skeptical of this kind of body type and how he lands.

Since Randle recently broke his leg.

[WeGetRing2012]

He has the bigger upside but small legs. I am skeptical of this kind of body type and how he lands.

Since Randle recently broke his leg.

Me too. That's the only thing, he runs a little awkward too.

Fun Fact. He went to the same HS as Bynum :eek:

[UK2K]

I hope Minny select Towns. I want Okafor because of his scoring skill set. He is a very skilled big man and offense trumps defense in this case. You can teach a guy how to play defense but you cannot teach a guy to be a deadly post scorer.

We don't need another Deandre Jordan 2.0

On this note, welcome to Los Angeles!
Did you just compare Towns to Deandre Jordan?

Really...

[CelticBaller]

lol at people surprised op is an idiot

[Rooster]

Not sold on Randle. He's not a guy you can build around. Towns or Okafor are players you can build around and I don't care if the combination of Okafor and Randle might be bad when we don't know if Randle is going to be the player we expect him to be.

Randle doesn't come into the equation in regards to this pick.

I agree. Randle should not be in equation on who we should draft. Lakers need to draft whoever they think the best player regardless of position. If we ended drafting Okafor then we can sign someone like Asik to be the 3rd wheel on front court.

[KDthunderup]

The problem with someone like Okafor is that they can become average defenders but probably will always need an elite defender at the PF/C position for them to be contenders, you can't have two average defenders around the paint and expect to win that's why a Randle/Okafor front court would suck.

A Randle/Towns front court would be a very nice combo of offense and defense.

[The JKidd Kid]

:facepalm

My Deandre comments was in regards to how he is more known for his defensive prowess than his offensive game, as compared to Okafor.

The flaw with your argument however is that Towns is good on defense and has a decent post game a long with decent shooting touch and elite athleticism. Okafor is absolutely terrible on d, to slow to guard the pick and roll and he didn't even block 1.5 shots per game in college when guys like Nerlens Noel were getting close to 5. He also struggles to rebound, has conditioning issues, no outside jumpshot at all and he's basically Shaq 2.0 from the free throw line. he has one elite skill and that's his interior scoring and even then he struggled against big men with actual NBA size in college like Myles Turner and Frank Kaminsky because of his lack of athleticism. How are you gonna build around a center that can't protect the rim, rebound or shoot?

Brook Lopez with shittier defense is his ceiling IMO. Do you really want that kind of player on your team?

[triangleoffense]

GTFO with his bad defensive game on Okafor. First off he's extremely well polished from watching him at Duke. Second off defense is something that can easily be taught or drilled.

He's a perfect fit for Kobe and LA. Extremely intelligent and could fit any type of system.

[Genaro]

OP has no idea what he's talking about, for Lakers sake I hope the Wolves think like him

[boozehound]

I hope Minny select Towns. I want Okafor because of his scoring skill set. He is a very skilled big man and offense trumps defense in this case. You can teach a guy how to play defense but you cannot teach a guy to be a deadly post scorer.

We don't need another Deandre Jordan 2.0

On this note, welcome to Los Angeles!
Dude is basically Greg Monroe.

[The JKidd Kid]

GTFO with his bad defensive game on Okafor. First off he's extremely well polished from watching him at Duke. Second off defense is something that can easily be taught or drilled.

He's a perfect fit for Kobe and LA. Extremely intelligent and could fit any type of system.

Too bad you can't teach him to get a new pair of legs. Centers that can't move their feet in the pick and roll or jump to block shots don't do well in today's NBA. Just look at Nikola Pekovic, the Zellers, Al Jefferson, Gortat, Enes Kanter the list goes on and on. Those are the kind of guys the Okafor is going to be. Whoever drafts him will be very frustrated 5 years from now when they're looking for the Serge Ibakas and Anthony Davis' of the world to put next to him.

[KDthunderup]

Too bad you can't teach him to get a new pair of legs. Centers that can't move their feet in the pick and roll or jump to block shots don't do well in today's NBA. Just look at Nikola Pekovic, the Zellers, Al Jefferson, Gortat, Enes Kanter the list goes on and on. Those are the kind of guys the Okafor is going to be. Whoever drafts him will be very frustrated 5 years from now when they're looking for the Serge Ibakas and Anthony Davis' of the world to put next to him.
Why can't better defensive footwork and lateral quickness be taught and improved?

[veilside23]

if okafor wont improve his defense he is like eddy curry 2.0 ...

[HOoopCityJones]

Isn't Gortat actually a pretty good rim protector?

[Nash]

Hackafor

[The JKidd Kid]

Why can't better defensive footwork and lateral quickness be taught and improved?

I'm not saying that he can't improve, of course he'll get better when playing basketball and getting into shape becomes his full time job I'm just saying that there's a limit as to how much he can improve he's never gonna be a good defender and he's never gonna have good lateral quickness. Can he go from God awful to average yes becoming good is a completely different story. It's very rare for an NBA player to dramatically improve his athleticism during his career and it would take a dramatic improvement for Okafor to become an adequate defender. Okafor is more of a project than Towns IMO. It's much easier to teach a player skills than to improve their athleticism.

[The JKidd Kid]

Isn't Gortat actually a pretty good rim protector?

He's pretty average leaning towards below average but he's definitely the best out of the players I listed.

[KDthunderup]

I'm not saying that he can't improve, of course he'll get better when playing basketball and getting into shape becomes his full time job I'm just saying that there's a limit as to how much he can improve he's never gonna be a good defender and he's never gonna have good lateral quickness. Can he go from God awful to average yes becoming good is a completely different story. It's very rare for an NBA player to dramatically improve his athleticism during his career and it would take a dramatic improvement for Okafor to become an adequate defender. Okafor is more of a project than Towns IMO. It's much easier to teach a player skills than to improve their athleticism.
Yeah but I think good defense comes mostly down to experience and knowledge. I mean Kanter is faster and more mobile then Perkins but Perkins is a better defender because of his defensive IQ and knowing when and how to move his feet, not necessarily how quickly he could move them. I reckon 70% of being a good defender is IQ and if you have a player who is motivated to improve defensively and good defensive coach there should be no reason they can't become a competent defender.

[HOoopCityJones]

It really doesn't matter who we take. Towns is my preference, but Okafor is a sure thing imo.

[ClipperRevival]

I'm not saying that he can't improve, of course he'll get better when playing basketball and getting into shape becomes his full time job I'm just saying that there's a limit as to how much he can improve he's never gonna be a good defender and he's never gonna have good lateral quickness. Can he go from God awful to average yes becoming good is a completely different story. It's very rare for an NBA player to dramatically improve his athleticism during his career and it would take a dramatic improvement for Okafor to become an adequate defender. Okafor is more of a project than Towns IMO. It's much easier to teach a player skills than to improve their athleticism.

I agree with everything you said. But I think you are selling Okafor a little short on his D. He will never be a great rim protector because of his lack of athleticism but he does have some positive attributes like 7'5" wing span and 9'3" standing reach and huge hands. So it helps that he's not t-rex arms or anything like that. And he will never be able to slide laterally like a DJ or Howard but the guy is coordinated and has pretty light feet. So if he was motivated, I think he can be a decent defender. The question is how good? Good enough to be the guy protecting the paint down low or will he need another big to help him out?

[The JKidd Kid]

Yeah but I think good defense comes mostly down to experience and knowledge. I mean Kanter is faster and more mobile then Perkins but Perkins is a better defender because of his defensive IQ and knowing when and how to move his feet, not necessarily how quickly he could move them. I reckon 70% of being a good defender is IQ and if you have a player who is motivated to improve defensively and good defensive coach there should be no reason they can't become a competent defender.

Perkins has been an average defender the past couple of years and even his first season in OKCS he wasn't anything special so he's not a good comparison at all. Also Perkins was good back when the only stretch 4s in the league were Dirk and Channing Frye. The NBA has changed quick guards like Teague and and Ty Lawson are going to embarrass him in the pick and roll and finish at the rim with ease and those guys aren't even top 5 at their position. In today's NBA a big man needs to be quick enough to hedge or trap or whatever pick and roll coverage their team runs and be able to get back and protect the rim. They need to be quick enough to close out on the abundance of stretch 4s in the game today and they need to be quick enough so that quicker big men don't blow by them. They also need to be able to jump high and fast in order to meet today's super athletes at the rim and contest their shots. If this was 10 or even 5 years ago Okafor would probably be average but it's not and if a team wants to build around Okafor they're gonna have to find another big that can do all the things on D that I just mentioned and spread the floor because we know Okafor and his 50% free throw shooting isn't going to be taking jump shots anytime soon. Big men that can do all of those things are incredibly hard to find.

[The JKidd Kid]

I agree with everything you said. But I think you are selling Okafor a little short on his D. He will never be a great rim protector because of his lack of athleticism but he does have some positive attributes like 7'5" wing span and 9'3" standing reach and huge hands. So it helps that he's not t-rex arms or anything like that. And he will never be able to slide laterally like a DJ or Howard but the guy is coordinated and has pretty light feet. So if he was motivated, I think he can be a decent defender. The question is how good? Good enough to be the guy protecting the paint down low or will he need another big to help him out?

I agree I am overreacting a little bit but this comes from a Nets fan who watched Brook Lopez for 7 years who was all offense no D or Rebounding and praying every year that he would magically improve his lateral quickness and I'll tell you that it really limits how far your team can go when your center can't guard the most common play in basketball. And Lopez averaged more blocks in college so imagine how bad Okafor is going to be.

[Rocketswin2013]

Okafor is pretty much Al Jefferson. I made a thread last year saying Towns is an Anthony Davis - Kevin Durant - Joakim Noah hybrid.

I take that back because Towns isn't as long as I originally thought. Now, I say he's Al Horford - Noah(in prime) - Davis hybrid. He's gonna be ****ing good. Not quite as good as Davis maybe, but really ****ing complete on both ends.

[ClipperRevival]

I agree I am overreacting a little bit but this comes from a Nets fan who watched Brook Lopez for 7 years who was all offense no D or Rebounding and praying every year that he would magically improve his lateral quickness and I'll tell you that it really limits how far your team can go when your center can't guard the most common play in basketball. And Lopez averaged more blocks in college so imagine how bad Okafor is going to be.

Okafor's D is a legit concern. If he was a legit 7 footer, just his overwhelming size might allow him to better protect the paint, sort of like 7'1" Bynum, who was also not athletic but was coordinated. But Okafor is about 6'10" without shoes and can't get off the floor quickly or very high. So odds are, his D will need to really be on point for him to be solid on that end. He would have to rely a lot on positional D rather than try to alter shots above the rim.

Still, I don't want to completely write off his D as helpless. Mostly cause I am a Lakers fan and I'm pretty sure that's who we end up with.

[ClipperRevival]

Wingspan: Okafor 7'5" and Towns 7'3"
Standing reach: Okafor 9"3 and Towns 9'2"

So Okafor covers more space both horizontally and vertically. But of course Towns has the superior athleticism so he can get to spots quicker. But given his lack of athleticism, at least he has impressive measurables to give him a fighting chance on D in stretches. If he was t-rex armed, you would really be worried about his D.

[KDthunderup]

I agree I am overreacting a little bit but this comes from a Nets fan who watched Brook Lopez for 7 years who was all offense no D or Rebounding and praying every year that he would magically improve his lateral quickness and I'll tell you that it really limits how far your team can go when your center can't guard the most common play in basketball. And Lopez averaged more blocks in college so imagine how bad Okafor is going to be.
I'd say his injuries haven't helped as far as that goes.

[Smoke117]

The kobe stans in here...HILARIOUS...:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: