After taking D’Angelo Russell with the #2 overall pick and surprising nearly everyone by selecting Larry Nance Jr. with the 27th overall selection, there were several directions the team could go with their final pick in the draft. With the 34th selection, the logical choice would be to draft not just the best player left on the team’s board, but, hopefully, a player who could either play center or was a pure wing player.
Well, the Lakers went with the latter by drafting Stanford small forward Anthony Brown. Brown wasn’t a player I looked at closely, but when looking at his numbers and watching some tape on him, he looks to be a fine selection for where the Lakers got him. Brown measured 6’8″ with a 6’11” wingspan at the draft combine. This is prototypical size for an NBA wing, serving him well as he moves up to the next level.
But the Lakers did not draft him for his size, they drafted him because he can flat out shoot the ball.
You see all that red and orange around the arc? Yeah, that’s a good thing.
In his final two seasons at Stanford, Brown shot 45% and 44% from behind the arc. His jumper is smooth, fluid, and has a high release point. He does not have the quickest release which could translate to having issues when having to create jumpshots off the dribble against the length and athleticism he will face at the NBA level. But as a spot up shooter or someone who can do some work off picks, his shooting should translate nicely to the next level.
With his shooting ability and physical profile, the hope is Brown develops into a “3 and D” wing who can be a rotation player. Considering his age (he’ll be 23 in October), the upside of other prospects isn’t there, but the maturity in his game and in knowing how to work within his limitations should be more refined.
All in all, I like this pick. Drafting a redshirt senior isn’t necessarily the sexy acquisition, but shooting never goes out of style. And, again, if he can learn to use his physical tools and develop into a plus defender, the Lakers will have found themselves a player. Those are a lot of “ifs”, I know. But the same is true for nearly all players selected in the part of the draft he was. Here’s hoping the Lakers found another player in the 2nd round who can play in this league.
Craig W. says
I am glad to see the Lakers didn’t go for freshmen/sophmores for their #27 & #34 picks. Because they selected a Junior and a Senior, they have much more film on those player’s development. Maybe they won’t skyrocket in value, but they are also much less likely to crash ‘n burn. They are what they are. It also means that they could work their way into some sort of rotation much quicker. The Lakers can’t afford to be in the initial throes of player development for very many of their young players. These upper classmen will not need as much extended attention.
I see Brown as a wing player who can come in when the team is having a hard time finding the basket. With long arms he may also be able to slow people down when the other team rebounds the ball.
Overall, a good pick at this point in the draft.
barry_g says
Was hoping for either Brown or Osman here, so I was happy w/ the pick, made a lot of sense from both a talent and need standpoint.
This is a 2nd rounder, so non-guaranteed contract, but you gotta assume Brown’s in since he’s an automatic upgrade over Wes Johnson. Right?
Renato Afonso says
I also liked this pick. It’s logical…
Fern says
These two lower picks well im kinda indiferent until they show they can play in the NBA, felt the same way about Clarkson, hope they pan out. What is going to be interesting is this kid Nance Jr, explaining to Kobe that tweet lol, i can already picture Kobe in practice with this kid. It’s going to be a looooooong season if he makes the team. If i were that kid i would he crapping my pants knowing that i have to face the Mamba. Im pretty sure Kobe is not amused, just a wild guess lol. On the bigger picture, i can’t shake the feeling that something is going to happen, something big.
Thomas Rickard says
Outside the issue of the text, and it probably shouldn’t be a big deal as kids we’ve all done/said things later we wish we hadn’t, I’ve watched him play against UNLV, he’s been the Wyoming team, he has a great motor and can flat out play, I think he’ll be another MW player that will surprise the league, just like Leonard
Mid-Wilshire says
Anthony Brown, as I’ve said in a previous post last night, could be a real steal. I think he’s a fine player who actually does a number of things well — shooting from distance, rebounding, passing, defense. As such, he could be more than just a 3 and D player. I actually see a very high upside for him. He must hit the weight room, though. And, of course, he’ll soon be 23. So, he must contribute right away.
Re: the draft as a whole, I was admittedly surprised by the choice of Russell but not displeased. Just surprised. I truly thought that Mitch would go with a big. Whatever.
The choice of Nance stunned me somewhat, primarily because I’m unfamiliar with his game (I like the video, though) and because he looked more like a 2nd rounder to me.
Then things got interesting. The Lakers chose Anthony Brown, a truly inspired choice, I think. And then they signed Robert Upshaw to their Summer League team. If Upshaw’s heart issues are OK (and I understand that they are) and if he can somehow rid himself of whatever demons are haunting him, then I think we could have the makings of an excellent 2nd unit big man (far more capable and athletic than the Robert Sacres of the world). There are obviously some huge red flags to be monitored. But Upshaw could be a major talent…if he can only keep his head screwed on straight. We shall see.
Now, on to free agency. Time to find a 5…and a 3…and maybe a back up 2.
It’s a process.
Hale says
I don’t watch college so I have no idea about the individual players drafted. However, a description of Russell’s movement reminded me of Brandon Roy (listed an inch taller, change of speed specialist)
Dallas drafted Sighn 1st Indian ever player drafted. His father is about the same height as him. His mother is 6’9″!!!! She might be too old to play forward at this level.
C. Free agents:
Brooke Lopez
Greg Monroe
Robin Lopez
Tyson Chandler
Brandan Wright
Kosta Koufos
Omer Asik
I don’t consider M Gasol as realistic. Neither Tim Duncan et al. I’m not interested in any of the power forward free agents (Love, LA, Al Jeff). Since Batum got gobbled up by the Hornets, he’s still on my envy list for the 3. Make the hard restricted offer to Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, or… slipped my mind. Luol Deng might be a UFA. I’m not going to look it up.
JC / D’AR
KB / JC
NY / ?
JR / RK / TB
? / TB / RS
Lin’s not staying to be 3rd guard. Hill is only back if no one bites on a decent sized contract. W Johnson can stay if he’s properly a bench guy. The D Leaguers, who knows? Ed Davis, I feel, is going to be priced out of L.A.
the other Stephen says
I think it’s time we get some new Forum Blue and Gold t-shirts. ^_^
Vasheed says
A sweet shooting 3 & D wing, I think this was an excellent pick.
Aaron says
Just watched video of Upshaw and did a little research. He at worst is a solid back up Center. He is athletic and has never been in shape for many reasons. I think he will get “addicted” to working out and really I think he will become a solid starting Center in this league. He looks like he can get a lot stronger. He has good coordination and…. He can dunk and play defens. So he is already better than Okafor.
Craig W. says
All-in-all this was a very good draft. We addressed every hole we have on the team, i.e. 1,3,4,5. Our later picks may not start – but since they are seniors – they should be able to get into a rotation fairly quickly. I see Upshaw as being a reasonable possibility to work into a 2nd unit defensive situation.
Since Kobe can play the 2 or 3 and most of the team has more than one position they can fit into, I see a tremendous amount of flexibility – the key component of modern NBA teams. I still worry about defense, but that could be addressed with FA signing at 3 and 5 positions.
Aaron says
Andy K on ESPNLA 710 just said Lakers see Randle as more of a SF (Mitch hinted at this last year but good to hear it again). That’s def the spot where Randle can have more succsess on both sides of the ball.
Oldtimer says
What do you think of our Ellington and Price? An SG and PG in the reserve are they history? I believe we are not that complete yet and would not conclude that our youngsters except for Russell could help us immediately on their rookie year. We all know that they need to be interned first to the NBA standards on the first season, precisely why Phil doesn’t play rookie that much on their first season. However, we don’t have the luxury of waiting on PG starter, he needs to lead the team by NOV. I think Ellington and Price are cheap as long as they have room in the roster like 13th and 14th player. Davis is also cheap at 3-5M but priority get two Centers first.
Anonymous says
Can we sign both Monroe (center) and Love (big forward) this off season? I think we have $33 mil to spend and have needs at the four and the five.
Plus could we package Clarkson in a sign and trade for Butler? We need a Kobe replacement.
Justin says
@Aaron Yeah when you watch his high school footage he looks like LeBron lite. His game is very similar and I think he could move to the post against smaller players. His strength allows him to get into the lane. The big question is his shot. It is said to be much improved, but we won’t know until he plays a season (as people can have flukes for stretches). I think he will play both forward spots for us. I am really a big fan of his game. Hope I am right and not blinded by what I have seen (which could be the case).
Shaun says
we only have 23-24mil in cap space …. only room for one max guy but in the case of Monroe his max is only 15mil per since hes only a 4th year player
That would leave us with about 8-9 million …. if we were able to unload nick young’s salary we would have enough space for 2 max contacts for 4 year players – maybe monroe and tobias harris assuming the magic don’t match …. but they probably will since they have almost 0 big contracts on their books
I don’t really see anyone else that would fit that mold as Monroe did something uncommon in signing his 1yr option last year
Otherwise if we are looking at paying a 2nd player around 8-10mil if we get Monroe or 2 players around 5mil each which may make resigning hill or davis a possibility … with my preference being hill since he has developed his outside shot, has the mobility to run in what we can all expect to be a showtimeesque offense and his minutes will be back to playing as the 1st guy off the bench where he wont tire out
in terms of who we should go after with our 5-10mil offer I would say
Affalo
Thaddeus young
Gerald Green (6’8)
Jae Crowder
Amir Johnson
Andre Bargniani – on a min contract
Al Farouq Aminu
Jonas Jerebko
If we miss out on Monroe I would say Javale Mcgee or simply going with Upshaw in the middle could be the way to go and use our money to go after another FA since I guess we would want our young guys to stay around the same age
Monroe will be the most available FA target … I see LA going to San Antonio, Ballmer is going to pay Deandre, Gasol will stay with his competitive team in memphis
If we went in on Robin Lopez … not Brook … too frail and slow … between 8-10mil we could get 3 players in the 8-10mil range at once and actually be a pretty competitive team even with all the youth on the team and still have max space next year once Kobe is off the books with what could then be a compelling team for any FA since we would have a mix of cheap youth in randle, clarkson, russel and possibly upshaw mixed with a few good vets and the chance to “Lead” the team
I think signing 3 solid rotation players would definately get us back to being respectable
Would anyone know that lets say we signed monroe at 15mil … could we then take on david lees contract with Looney for almost nothing or because it would take us past the cap it is not allowed?
I know that with GS being over the cap they cant take people back but since we are under can we take them in?
D.Lee could be good for a running team and would be larger than randle but still fit what I think we will be looking to do plus getting looney as throw in could be good
Calvin says
According to Mitch, the first workout did not have a defender. The second workout had players playing one on one or three on three. Jahlil did not have a good second workout while Russel did. Conclusion – Jahlil could not defeat Mad Dog Madsen one on one in the second workout. Mad Dog locked him down!
Oldtimer says
Thank you Darius for approving finally my post, I was just thinking what I said bad in that post that needs to be moderated for too long. I apologize in advance if my posts are too critical but I post what I believe.
Anyway, we need two Center ASAP! IMO, Russell was taken not just to go with the new NBA fad. He is not a Dantoni type of perimeter shooter but a small Magic J (I hope). He is a good passer of the moving parts, therefore he is still a player on the old school mold. IMO, the presence of Russell and Clarkson in the back court saved us a lot $$$ in getting a veteran PG.
Bob Cousy was great dribbler and passer that fed Bill Russell to superstardom. Pistol Maravich was a great passer but he has nobody to pass to in his team so no rings for the HOF’er.
Today, we don’t have a true Center in this team, then D’Angelo ability to feed the low post becomes a waste. You can’t lived with chuckling treys all year round. Many say that we are now in the new era of perimeter shooters and three PG’s. I don’t think so. I still believe in the Center like D’Andre type or even a LaMarcus and Kevin L who are PF’s/Center, as long as they do the fundamentals of what is expected from a Center which rebounds and defense. Just because Thompson and Mozgov could not stop the foxy guards of Dubs, a lot of people immediately conclude that we are now in the new wave of basketball. Nope! It still depends on player skill set, if you are not athletic, lazy on rebounds and defense and chunked too many bricks then you don’t deserve to win in any Finals. GOAT’s teammates lacked the “it” so no rewards. That was the gaping hole I saw at the Cavs in the waning minutes of the last three games – fatigue and inefficiency that made the Dubs looked great!
See how excited everyone who were selected by the Lakers, or from the body language how disappointed they were because Lakers did not call their name? We are still the team of destination whether rookies or FA’s, just provide them a good climate of excellence and confidence, not exhibiting stupid decisions of the past.
Chibi says
Calvin the lakers brought in a guy named gabe olaseni to go up against okafor.
Calvin says
Chibi – I was just kidding about Madsen. I wonder if Jahlil did not do well against Oleseni. I saw an article about how Oleseni brought his A game during the workout with Jahlil.
mindcrime says
Oleseni played for Iowa (my favorite college team). I don’t think he’s going to be an NBA player, but as a former soccer player from England who converted to basketball when he grew too much (a legit 6 foot 11 center) he has length hops coordination and shot blocking ability on the defensive end IOW probably provided a good test for Okafor