The Association

Looking at Lakers Plan B - Assuming They Lose Tonight

By Craig Kwasniewski

It’s that time of year for the Lakers to pin all their hopes on the whims of 4 plastic balls.  What I’m talking about is the NBA Draft lottery and what is now an annual occurrence, the Los Angeles Lakers taking part in the Lottery.  They have strict restrictions on their first round pick and how a coded combination of four numbered plastic balls determine whether they either: 1 – keep a top three pick in a front-loaded draft or 2 – transfer a top 4 thru 7 pick to the Philadelphia 76ers as final payment for the Steve Nash trade from the summer of 2012. 

By now we all know the long-term repercussions of this lottery:  lose two first round picks (2017 and 2019) or lose one first round pick (2018) and two second round picks (2017 & 2018), the latter is a result of the Dwight Howard trade in 2012. It all comes down to four plastic balls and it’s all extremely stressful.  Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, landing in the top 3 and ONLY losing one first round pick is desirable.  Since we literally have no control of the outcome, let’s look at the results assuming Team Schadenfreude gets the worst of the two options  Here’s an outlook assuming the Lakers “lose” in today’s Lottery and four reasons to feel good, no matter what happens tonight:

1 – The Lou Williams trade saves face – Lou Williams having a bounce-back year earned the Lakers a first-round pick from the Houston Rockets.  Yes, it’s a late pick but worst case they get an invite to the draft party.  Unlike last year, this is a relatively deep draft and drafting 28^th can land a strong rotation player the likes of Caleb Swanigan.  The pick isn’t high enough to move for Paul George but it’ll land a decent player.

2 – No. 3 Second Round Pick – This is essentially a late first round pick but with second round contract obligations.  Meaning, the Lakers have their pick of the litter on desired long-shots.  Lakers landed Zubac last year at the 32^nd overall pick and he looks like he’ll pan out.  These type of players are available at this spot.

3 – Finally, closure on the 2012-13 disaster – 4 years of will they or won’t they lose the pick finally ends. After today we’ll have full closure on the disastrous Nash/Howard trades as all picks will be transferred and the Lakers can focus on the long-term building process knowing where their draft assets stand.  These 4 years of draft purgatory have been an excruciating process. 

4 – Lakers are finally headed in the right direction – Gone is the bumbling process that is the Jim Buss era.  In Luke Walton the Lakers have the right coach with the right mentality to build a young team around.  Magic still owns every room he walks in and will provide the needed, and much improved, face of the franchise.  Rob Pelinka seems to be the smart and innovative hire for the GM spot.  Mix in small things like a new training facility and it feels like the reset button has been properly hit and the Lakers momentum is headed in the right direction.  Not to mention that the rotation of Russell, Clarkson, Nance, Zubac, Randle and Ingram feels like the right mix to build with. 

(Of course, keeping the pick wouldn't suck either.)

The Lakers Von Schadenfreude Plan

By Craig Kwasniewski

Here we are yet again... same damn time, same damn channel... the Lakers are right back at it and hoping for a little lottery luck.

We've all heard the odds of the Lakers keeping the pick (55.8% just to save you a click).  We all know the repercussions of losing the pick to the lowly Philadelphia 76ers.  This is why the Lakers are literally shoving lucky horseshoes in all the wrong places (unless you're German) in hopes of keeping that pick.  Mitch will sitting on the dais waiting out the results and John Black will be in the actual ping-pong ball room repeating the same routines as last year when they landed the No. 2 overall pick.  It's actually kinda crazy seeing middle-aged men doing this dance but that's what the NBA Draft is all about. 

And let's be honest, keeping this pick would be a huge step in the Lakers rebuilding process.  It's a chance to grab Simmons or Ingram or to trade for a potential All Star caliber talent.  Conversely, losing that pick will be another brick in the proverbial schadenfreude wall that, thanks to the Buss Family Dysfunction  is growing every single day (all caps because it's been upgraded to an actual thing).

We'll instead of pouring over the options if the Lakers keep the pick, let's actually prepare for the worst and fight our way through the schadenfreude onslaught... The Lakers Von Schadenfreude Plan, a simple 5-step plan:

1 - Lose the draft pick - Check... it was going to happen eventually.  You can't simply trade away a first rounder and then hope the protected pick never cycles out.  This was the reality after trading for Steve Nash back in the summer of 2012.  And while planning for a parade the following June, we all were willing to throw away that pick.  After all, the Lakers never needed them anyway.  Well, yada, yada, yada... at least we finally officially close the door on the Steve Nash era.  

2 - Move on with the 2nd Round Pick - Finishing with the second worst record in the league did guarantee the Lakers the second best pick in the 2nd round (deuces are wild, as Vinny would say). This is the 32nd overall pick, essentially a late first rounder.  Legit talent can be had that early in the 2nd round (or even late in the 2nd round... hello Jordan Clarkson!).  The Lakers can still address holes in the roster taking a big like A.J. Hammonds or... I don't know, I really want them to take Hammonds.  The dude has improved greatly the last 2 years and can be a stable big down the road.  Point being, there is talent to be had early in the 2nd round.  The Lakers aren't the Knicks, stuck with zero picks.

3 - Luke Walton! - Unlike the summer of 2014, the Lakers went out at got their replacement head coach before the draft.  And, unlike 2014, they can fill their gaping holes in their roster based on an actual system (one could argue the same for last summer, DESPITE actually having a head coach)... and speaking of DESPITE...

4 - No Byron Scott - Five weeks ago Lakers twitter was freaking out over genuine rumors of Byron Scott staying another year.  Many were even willing to part with this years pick, just to see Lord Byron go. Well... 

5 - Next Years Draft - "They say" the 2017 draft is pretty damn good.  People have argued winning the 3rd spot in this years draft is actually worse than losing the pick... the draft is that good!  Well, because of the Ted Stepien Rule and thankfully because the Lakers aren't Brooklyn, they actually get to keep their pick for next year's killer draft.  

Yes, I'm turning lemons in lemonade but with a new coaching staff, a some real promising young talent, a decent 2nd round pick and a shit-ton of salary space, losing this lottery is not the end of the world for the Lakers.  All you have to do is just stomach the next 24 hours of schadenfreude and it'll be okay.... trust me.

Win or Lose the Lakers Will Be Better Off Tomorrow

By Craig Kwasniewski

Is it like riding a bicycle... maybe, but with a lot of rust...

Anyway, to me tomorrow is a win-win situation for the Lakers no matter what happens in the lottery.  No seriously.  Yes the Lakers have roughly a 1 in 6 chance at losing a shot at a potential franchise-changing pick and yes it would be excruciatingly brutal to watch the karma-challenging 76ers get rewarded for continually taking advantage of their mental midget fans.  But win or lose, the Lakers are better off.  

Obviously keeping the pick is the goal and people have already thoroughly analyzed they types of players available in the top 5 slots.  So instead let's look at benefits of losing the lottery.  Here are 3 C's to cheer you up (hey, at least it's not D's or F's):

1 - Closure - Losing the pick officially ends the Steve Nash era.  I'm not calling it the worst trade in franchise history... we all were on board with it back in 2012.  But the long-suffering will finally be over.  No more picks being traded to Phoenix and no more gut-wrenching Steve Nash injury reports. We just need to sign the final papers and the divorce is over... on with our lives.

2 - Clarity - No more if's and could be's, the Lakers have results and can move forward.  No more speculation or even worse, knotted stomachs with the worry of losing the pick.  They have their 1st and 2nd round picks to focus on and now it's time to fill out the draft board.

3- Contingency Plan - This is the key here... let's look back at May of 2014.  The Lakers had ONE first round pick and were just coming off actually losing a spot in the 2014 lottery.  Mike D'Antoni was on his way out and early predictions had the Lakers falling just out of potential franchise player range after dropping down in the draft.  Mix in Kobe's knee and things were bleak.  2 months later, Julius Randle fell right in their hands and the Lakers bought a second round pick and used it on Jordan Clarkson, that guy who was just named NBA All-Rookie First Team.  Randle's injury was a step back but in no way career-threatening and he showed he has the skills to play 3/4 in this league.  Not too shabby given the limited resources.

Moving forward to 2015, the Lakers put together a decent contingency plan by taking Jeremy Lin off the the Rockets hands for their 2015 first round pick.  Worst case they're sitting on the 27th (from Houston) and 34th overall (Lakers 2nd round) picks in the draft, essentially two late 1st round or two early 2nd round picks.  The key here is that there will be talent available at that spot.  Add in Ryan Kelly and arguably Robert Sacre (hey, he's a cheap practice big that can play emergency minutes... did I mention he's cheap) and three years in a row the Lakers have found NBA-level talent in the second round... not easy in today's game.

Obviously it would be nice to keep the pick let alone win the lottery, but it really isn't gloom and doom if for some reason they fall out of the top 5.  They just need to continue to draft smartly.

Draft Lottery : The Celtics (Deservedly) Got Screwed

by Brett Edwards

I've never been that into the Draft Lottery, but it's still a fun 30 minutes of NBA-related television, so of course I watched. Here's a video clip of the highlight of the evening, and that's when the Celtics were announced as getting the 5th pick, meaning they got screwed out of one of the top two.

Unless you're a Celtics' fan, that's a laugh out loud moment when they show the dude in the backwards cap drawing flies there with his mouth open in pure shock and disappointment. It's not that I don't like the Celtics; in fact the Bird/McHale/Parrish teams were my first favorites. But the blatant tanking that Ainge and Rivers pulled off in the regular season does not deserve to be rewarded. So despite Bill Simmons' karma breakdown favoring his Celtics, it appears that losing games on purpose outweighs all of the other categories.

NBA Draft Thoughts

By Craig Kwasniewski

Whew! The draft is over, was there 60 picks or 60 trades?

So what did we learn from the draft? Here's what I got from the 2006 NBA Draft:

-Isiah Thomas is going down in a blaze of glory! I set the over-under on Renaldo Balkman/Rolando Blackmon jokes at 2,371. I TIVO'ed the draft and watched the crowd reaction to the Knicks 20th pick 5 times and it hasn't gotten old yet.

-I'm loving the effect the NBA dress code has had on Adam Morrison. Wednesday he looked like he came straight from his summer job at Blockbuster. Today's introductory press conference he broke out a pin-striped suit. He's got the WNBA player-in-high-heels awkwardness about him. I may start a Adam Morrison Fashion blog site. It cracks me up.

-Portland made the whole night fun. We've all had that one guy in our fantasy leagues that just likes to make trades all season, even if it's 2 dimes for a quarter. He'll fuck up his season eventually trading too much... that was Portland last night.

-I learned that I sucked when it comes to draft predictions. I got a whopping 5 out of 30 correct! Still, slamonline.com asked for me to participate in a mock draft and it was fun to get into it.

-Utah shocked me the most. Given they have the whitest fan base in all of professional sports, not one cracker? Evidently modesty is not a Mormon virtue as they linked all the draft grades to their website.

-With all the trades, it'll take me a few days just to see if there are any major repercussions. I am giddy at the rumored A.I. trade to Boston. It's worth it to see A.I. and Paul Pierce grow to hate each other's ball-demanding games.

-David Stern likes England to win over those cheating Portuguese (see photo).

-Now let me put away "unbiased guy" and put on my Laker fan persona...

Mitch Kupchak is a (earmuffs please)... fucking, cocksucking, shitbagging, ballbusting asshole of a General Manager!

Why oh why did he have to take Jordan Farmar? Here's a few reasons why Farmar was a poor pick:

1. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever take a local kid. Family, friends, posse and alumni obligations are all huge distractions to a young player coming into the league. Besides LeBron there's not too many local-kid success stories. That alone is a very pre-2005 Clipper-like move. All I have to say is Bo Kimble.

2. Unknown to people outside of Los Angeles, but UCLA basketball is ranks up there with Entourage as highly overrated. I've always joked with my friends that the newspaper is the UCLA Times. Every season (especially during the Steve Lavin era) the media hailed UCLA's "Final Four talent!" How many lottery picks in the past 10 years? One in Barron Davis.

3. Never let the bandwagon element influence your draft pick. Local media are claiming that the Lakers "lucked-out" when Farmar fell down to the 26th spot. Just who the hell was making Farmar a lottery pick? Four weeks ago Farmar was a rumored late 1st-early 2nd round pick. He was considering returning to UCLA for another season (with "Final Four talent!!!"). Being the most visible star on Final Four bound UCLA obviously clouded the local media's vision.

4. Lets look at the numbers... being rather small at 6-2 you would hope that Farmar's a good outside shooter. Nope, he shot a Devean George-like 41% from the field. At least he's quick, right? Not really, he doesn't have the type of lateral speed to keep with Nash or Parker. And at 19, he's a good 2 or three seasons from developing into a regular on the team.

5. Instead of drafting a more experienced player who's ready to contribute immediately, the Lakers drafted with their future in mind, continuing to neglect Kobe in his prime. So I guess the plan is to squeeze everything out of Kobe for 3 seasons while losing in the first round every year with ZERO talent...good stuff.

Anyway, enough of Laker talk. What did y'all think about the draft? Any surprises? Were there any trades? REACTION!

NBA Draft Special

By Craig Kwasniewski

Is it me or is the NBA Draft today?

We're not draft experts here at The Association, but we're big enough fans to have somewhat of a clue (unlike half of the GM's) to know what each team needs this offseason. So we put together a three part preview on tonight's draft. Check it out:

NBA Draft - Needs and Reality, Part 1 (picks 1 through 10)

NBA Draft - Needs and Reality, Part 2 (picks 11 through 20)

NBA Draft - Needs and Reality, Part 3 (picks 21 through 30)

NBA Draft - Needs and Reality, Part 3

By Craig Kwasniewski

Earlier I posted Part 1 and Part 2 of our NBA Draft outlook. Now comes Part 3 of the draft (picks 21 through 30), the rest of it. I admit, some of these picks are a stretch (damn, these draft forecasts are harder than you think! Chad Ford, you definitely earned half of your wages... until your first of many Euro busts.)

Anyway, in looking for some draft coverage photos, I stumbled upon this one of Adam Morrison. I just keep thinking of Chris, from Family Guy screaming, "Why am I so awkward!?" I'm really starting to love the NBA dress code.

So let's continue with Phoenix:

21. Phoenix: Their offseason could be the best in the NBA. After finishing as a Western Conference Finalist, they get Amare back for next year. They still may want to add some size. Playing with house money here, they take Oleksiy Pecherov.

22. New Jersey: Watching Anthony Johnson scorch Kidd in the playoffs on offense tells me that Kidd is slowing down. Time to draft a replacement point in Sergio Rodriguez.

23. New Jersey: Here they can draft some physical size in Josh Boone.

24. Memphis: They need to add to the backcourt, especially if Bobby Jackson leaves. I see it in Maurice Ager.

25. Cleveland: They need to prove to LeBron that they are serious about contending, so no projects here. Shannon Brown is one of the best players left at this spot.

26. Lakers: Notorious for pissing away draft picks (Devean George, Mark Madsen, Sasha Vujacic, Brian Cook), horrible trades (Shaq for Lamar Odom and salary cap hell till 2007) and crappy free agent signings (Aaron McKie and Vlade Divac); Mitch Kupchak is an Isiah Thomas away from being the worst General Manager in all of professional sports. So how does he fuck up this pick? He’ll probably take local guy Jordan Farmer. (Though rumor has the Lakers drafting James White which is what they'll do.)

27. Phoenix: This one’s an absolute stretch, so don’t kill me for suggesting it, but why not draft Kevin Pittsnogle? The guy is 6-11 with incredible shooting range, a nice version of Bill Laimbeer. This would fit their system and he wouldn’t clog the lane for Amare.

28. Mavericks: What else can they add, Dallas runs 2 to 3 deep at every position. (Maybe they can draft a therapist to help them cope with being jobbed by the refs.) Anyway, they should take a chance on a long shot and draft a Euro project like Marcus Vinicius Vieria De Souza. I'll be checking daily for the Vinicius Vieria De Souza jersey, finally someone with a longer last name than mine!

29. New York: After 15 minutes of constant Fi-re Thom-as (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap), the Knick draft Mouhamed Saer Sene! (out comes a NY Jets fan-like, “AWWWWW BOOOOO”)

30. Portland: The Blazers close out the first round by taking Jordan Farmar. Actually a decent pick at this spot. As he walks up to the podium he fires up a splify and calls David Stern a bitch. He fits right in with Portland!

NBA Draft - Needs and Reality, Part 2

By Craig Kwasniewski

Now that you have seen Part 1, here is Part 2 of the draft (picks 11 through 20), the middle of the pack. There's a lot of teams in transition here, and we close with what will be my favorite moment of the night, the New York Knicks first pick. Time to prepare... (clearing throat)

"FI-RE THOM-ASS!" (clap... clap... clap-clap-clap)

"FI-RE THOM-ASS!" (clap... clap... clap-clap-clap)

So let's continue with Orlando:

11. Orlando: This team is on the brink of the playoffs. Dwight Howard is a beast! I like the midseason acquisition of Trevor Ariza and Darko has a great chance of saving his career here. They should take Ronnie Brewer to add some backcourt depth.

12. NOOCH: The Hornets were a pleasant surprise last year. They were able to compete without a single low post player on their entire roster. All their bigs scored from mid-range jumpers. They need a post-up guy. They'll probably take the best swingman available in Rodney Carney.

13. Philadelphia: I thought they had a decent mix of youth and veterans and would make the playoffs… bro, was I wrong! I think they are leaning towards trading A.I. more than ever and taking Randy Foye will start the rumors.

14. Utah: Their wish list is Adam Morrison, Andrea Bargnani, J.J. Redick, Sergio Rodriguez, Steve Novack, James Augustine, James White (oops, he's no longer on the list), Louis Admundson…. Is there a theme here? Fortunately for their fan base, J.J. Redick will be drafted by Utah here. (A huge sigh of relief by the fanbase of all the other NBA teams!)

15. NOOCH: They still need a low post big here. Alexander Johnson looks to be the man.

16. Chicago: What a difference a few euro draft busts make…the Bulls take swingman Thabo Sefolosha from Switzerland for athleticism and unbounded neutrality.

17. Indiana: This franchise is truly at the crossroads. Stojakovic is becoming a free agent, O,Neal is hearing trade rumors, Tinsley is injury-prone and Carlisle might not get a contract extension. I can’t see them drafting a point guard and waiting for development like they did with Tinsley. Many sites say they’ll take Hilton Armstrong, I agree.

18. Washington: The Wizar*s and coach E**ie Jor*an were so bad defensively that they lost the right to use the letter “D” for the 2006-07 season. This summer they need to extend Caron Butler’s contract and draft a big. Paul Millsap is left on the list of available power forwards. Do they teach defense at Louisiana Tech?

19. Sacramento: The last two season brought about a change in the identity of the Kings. Gone is the fun-loving, high-scoring, heavily entertaining playoff choking bunch. All that remains from the 2002 Western Conference Finalist team is Bibby. Time to start developing a point guard for the future? Definately, the Kings take Rajon Rondo.

20. New York: This is THE absolute must watch moment of the NBA Draft. A chance to see bitter Knick fan pop a vein booing the entire time the Knicks are on the clock. I’m secretly hoping that they waste this pick on some unknown Euro just to hear the comparisons with previous Knick waste Frederick Weis. Hopefully they’ll show Weis getting dunked over and on by Vince Carter during the 2000 Olympics. Unfortunately, the Knicks take Shawne Williams from Memphis for this pick.

Part 3 will be posted soon!

NBA Draft - Needs and Reality, Part 1

By Craig Kwasniewski

So the NBA Draft is Wednesday night. We at The Association don’t consider ourselves draft experts by any means. But from watching many games in person and on TV we do know what each team needs this offseason. Will they fill the needs Wednesday night or will the stupidity continue (yes, I’m talking to you Mitch Kupchak).

Anyway here is Part 1 of the draft (picks 1 through 10), lets take a look at each draft spot starting with Toronto:

1. Toronto: They need an athletic swingman to go along with Chris Bosh and they need to convince Mike James to stay a Raptor. This pick has Rudy Gay written all over it, but with the new front office having European ties, I see them drafting Andrea Bargnani.

2. Chicago: Needs a low post presence badly with Curry’s departure and Tyson Chandler becoming a poor man’s Marcus Camby (even down to being injury prone). LaMarcus Aldridge looks to have the best low-post potential and will fit the team. Does Chicago have the patience to wait a few seasons for his game to mature or will they trade this pick?

3. Charlotte: I liked the direction this team has gone. Take raw athletic players in the expansion draft and hope to draft talent over time. For an expansion team, they were pretty fun to watch. They need a point with a good work ethic to teach Sean May to keep the weight off. They’ll take Brandon Roy.

4. Portland: This franchise more than any other needs an Alpha Dog with strong leadership and is a truly good guy… BADLY. I can’t find one in this draft. They’ll go with a safe pick (code for white guy) and take Adam Morrison.

5. Atlanta: They should just say, “Screw it, we’ve blown so many drafts on shooting guards, we’ll take Ronnie Brewer!” Since they blew their chance at taking Chris Paul last season, they need a point guard here, but with Al Harrington possibly moving they also need a big. They’ll take Tyrus Thomas.

6. Minnesota: What’s their direction here? Do they draft complimentary pieces, trade for Starbury and hope for one final run for The Big Ticket? Or do they try to rebuild on the fly? I say they do the former and try to draft a relatively polished scorer in Rudy Gay.

7. Boston: Can you draft a head coach here? Since they are banking the future on Al Jefferson and the youth movement, do they continue and take a chance on a project player or do they draft a more experienced player? They look to add depth at the point and take Marcus Williams.

8. Houston: They need to get a new coach to add some life here. Is Pat Riley available to stab Jeff Van Gundy in the back and take over in Houston? This team needs some backcourt speed and athleticism. Plus, they looked thin at power forward as Juwan Howard’s corpse is running on fumes. They’ll take Shelden Williams.

9. Golden State: This team was very disappointing last season. I figured they would be the 05-06 version of the 04-05 Suns. Too much infighting (Barron Davis and Montgomery, Davis and Dunleavy, Davis and the ballboy) killed the season. They need a low post presence badly just to balance the offense, unless Ike Diogu is ready to step in. I see them taking Patrick O’Bryant.

10. Seattle: They really need to re-sign/extend The Association fav Chris Wilcox. He will have a breakout season in 06-07. They did a nice job adding Earl Watson in the midseason so he could platoon with Luke Ridnour. They need another aggressive big and they will be back in the playoff hunt. Seattle will take a chance at developing Cedric Simmons.

The NBA Draft is Coming!

By Craig Kwasniewski

The NBA Draft on Wednesday at 4:00 PM (Pacific) on ESPN. Now that we are all over the shock (and horror) of the Miami Heat winning the NBA title, it's time to see what long-shot euro will be taken over a quality four-year college player. Now is the time for Chad Ford to justify what amounts to a six-month all expenses paid trip to Europe. But before any draft predictions or wish lists, here's some websites that you may want to look into for some quick research before your favorite team wastes their draft pick on J.J. Reddick:

NBA.com - Draft 06NY

ESPN.com - 2006 Draft

yahoo.com - Coverage of the NBA Draft

SI.com - '06 NBA Draft (Sports Illustrated)

New York Knicks Draft Central (for comic purposes)