Lakers: Team Nearly Chose Kristaps Porzingis Over D’Angelo Russell
By Eric Yee
Former Lakers’ head coach, Byron Scott, has been anything but quiet since his firing from the team and Friday he talked about the 2015 Draft
The Los Angeles Lakers may have moved on from Byron Scott, but he sure hasn’t forgotten about them, readily willing to dish out information about the 2015-16 campaign.
Friday morning, Scott was on the Dan Patrick Show again, the very same show where he was prompted into saying that he was “a little blindsided” by his firing but this time the topic of discussion was more about the team than Byron himself.
Scott talked about a series of draft topics including who he think the Lakers would choose if they had a do over, to which he surprisingly responded D’Angelo Russell. Further, he said that the decision to ultimately choose Russell over the now New York Knicks’ center, Kristaps Porzingis, was “pretty close.”
Byron (on @dpshow) said there was “serious discussion” about taking Kristaps Porzingis No. 2, but he wasn’t in great shape in the workout.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) May 20, 2016
"When you can only have a guy in for an individual workout, that’s really tough, because a lot of guys look great in individual workouts, then there’s a lot of guys that don’t. You know I always really felt that if you could have a guy or a group of guys where they can play three on three basketball then you really get a better idea if these guys can play right away."
Scott said Lakers got the impression that Porzingis would be good in the next 3-4 years, had no idea he’d be this good, his first year.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) May 20, 2016
Another shocking revelation was the fact that Porzingis came into the workout out of shape.
"Like I said he just came in town, he was pretty worn out after like 20 minutes. You know, so you just didn’t get a chance to see every thing that he’s capable of doing… Until the season started and we saw him in the summer league, I said ‘Woah, this kid’s gonna be pretty good’"
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This seems to go against the reports that Kristaps Porzingis had an amazing workout with the Los Angeles Lakers last summer, but the conspirator in me wonders if Porzingis sandbagged during his workout because he wanted to land in the New York and play for Phil Jackson.
In regards to unanimous Rookie of the Year, Karl Anthony-Towns, however, Scott said that the team had no doubts about him and more over that they “wished they had the first pick.”
Seeing how Russell has progressed just as he promised to start the season, fans seem loyal to the point guard of the future, despite his obvious flaws.
Next: NBA Mock Draft: Lottery Set, Who Does LA Take?
With the amount of young core players the team has, it will be interesting to see who rises to the top to lead them this upcoming season.