Current/Former Lakers Bench...Kings of the D-League

The top 3 scorers in the D-League were ALL on the Lakers roster during training camp.

1. Andrew Goudelock 23.1 ppg
2. Chris Douglas-Roberts 22.3ppg
3. Darius Johnson-Odom 21.6ppg

The most impressive all around player on that list??? The man currently still with the Lakers, DJO.

In 8 games, he is averaging the following statistics:
40.6 mpg
21.6 PPG
5.4 APG
5.0 RPG
1.2 SPG
.469 FG%
.316 3P%
.848 FT%

Just in his last 3 games, his team has gone 2-1, he has tallied 30 [4 AST, 4 RBD, 2 STL], 28 [9 AST, 5 RBD, 2 STL] and 27 [3 AST, 6 RBD, 3 STL] .

I say we should PLAY DJO behind Nash and DUMP (cut or trade) Earl Clark...we can replace him with CD-R. Those two moves right there make us a better team in the short term, and we can always move Ebanks, Hill...or even Gasol (god no ) later on before the deadline, if we have to.

yea...cuz d-league play translates so accurately to the NBA

/sarcasm

also, chris duhon and darius morris say wutsup

fkmikebrown wrote:yea...cuz d-league play translates so accurately to the NBA

/sarcasm

also, chris duhon and darius morris say wutsup

Morris and Duhon haven't been scoring the ball enough at the point. We are dead last in starting PG PPG, and it is killing our offensive balance. DJO is already on our roster...I can't see the harm in giving him a shot before we dump him. Morris can still get minutes for his defense and athleticism, but DJO just seems to be farther along with his offensive game. I want to see him get a shot...not sure why you think that is so stupid.

CD-R has already averaged roughly 10 points per contest (9.8) in only 25.8 mpg IN THE NBA, and it is quite clear that he is ahead of Earl Clark offensively. In 18-24 mpg as the reserve SF (and also sometimes as the SG when we want to play bigger) he could give us 6-8 points a game, very similar to Matt Barnes the past few years. We still would have Ebanks, Metta, Kobe and even Jamison to man the 3 at times, so it's not like we would be depending on CD-R.

I just think that, at this point, he is an affordable option as an upgrade (especially in THIS system) over an athletic but very raw Earl Clark, whose only real marketable skill is wildly inconsistent quality on-ball defense (and little else) at the NBA level. Call me crazy if you want, just one man's opinion.

Snakell Beast wrote:

fkmikebrown wrote:yea...cuz d-league play translates so accurately to the NBA

/sarcasm

also, chris duhon and darius morris say wutsup

Morris and Duhon haven't been scoring the ball enough at the point. We are dead last in starting PG PPG, and it is killing our offensive balance. DJO is already on our roster...I can't see the harm in giving him a shot before we dump him. Morris can still get minutes for his defense and athleticism, but DJO just seems to be farther along with his offensive game. I want to see him get a shot...not sure why you think that is so stupid.

CD-R has already averaged roughly 10 points per contest (9.8) in only 25.8 mpg IN THE NBA, and it is quite clear that he is ahead of Earl Clark offensively. In 18-24 mpg as the reserve SF (and also sometimes as the SG when we want to play bigger) he could give us 6-8 points a game, very similar to Matt Barnes the past few years. We still would have Ebanks, Metta, Kobe and even Jamison to man the 3 at times, so it's not like we would be depending on CD-R.

I just think that, at this point, he is an affordable option as an upgrade (especially in THIS system) over an athletic but very raw Earl Clark, whose only real marketable skill is wildly inconsistent quality on-ball defense (and little else) at the NBA level. Call me crazy if you want, just one man's opinion.

the fact is we have seen very little (pretty much nothing) meaningful from DJO. you can't just draw direct correlations between d-league success and actual NBA action. i would have loved to see what he could do for us...months ago. with nash's return over the horizon, we don't have the time (nor necessarily the need) to groom a new third string (at best) or fifth string (at worst) pg.

the "boy, we wish we kept CDR" idea has been out there and discussed pretty thoroughly already. for the record again, "i wish we had kept CDR"

Would love to have seen how Glock would've fit in MDA's system. Thanks Potatohead.

fkmikebrown wrote:the fact is we have seen very little (pretty much nothing) meaningful from DJO. you can't just draw direct correlations between d-league success and actual NBA action. i would have loved to see what he could do for us...months ago. with nash's return over the horizon, we don't have the time (nor necessarily the need) to groom a new third string (at best) or fifth string (at worst) pg.

the "boy, we wish we kept CDR" idea has been out there and discussed pretty thoroughly already. for the record again, "i wish we had kept CDR"

Actually, I can compare what I have SEEN (being that I have watched all summer league, pre-season and game action) from both players and determine if one (DJO) deserves a shot over what we have already seen from the other (Morris). It is better for the team, going forward, to give DJO some significant minutes while we A. work Nash back from injury and B. determine which back court reserves to keep, and which to dump/trade.

Morris and Duhon don't provide enough guaranteed value to automatically dismiss DJO as a possibility off the bench, especially now that we will be trying to work a 39 year old (coming back from injury) back into the starting rotation. We need YOUTH AND ATHLETICISM that can SCORE from the 1 position off the bench. I see DJO as our Eric Bledsoe. He deserves the chance to prove if he is worth keeping/playing before we trade him or cut him to sign Delonte West, or some other back court bench depth.

DJO deserves a shot sure, but right now duhon and morris are way better for our team. chance are when nash comes back morris will be the backup just for defensive purposes and im okay with that from what ive seen lately

Ariza3 wrote:DJO deserves a shot sure, but right now duhon and morris are way better for our team. chance are when nash comes back morris will be the backup just for defensive purposes and im okay with that from what ive seen lately

That's understandable, however, DJO has a better defensive reputation coming out of college than Morris. He (DJO) was also the best all around athlete in the draft combine. He has what we desperately need...ATHLETICISM...not to say that Morris is not athletic. I also LOVE Johnson-Odom's work ethic and determination.

I am not saying dump Morris, or even stop playing him, I am saying that it can only HELP the team to also develop and evaluate DJO so that we can at least see if he is right for us. We need to make a few changes to the bottom of our roster, and so we must sift through the players we have to discover which we would like to keep, and which we are better off removing from the roster.

Goudelock
Meeks
CDR
Jamison
Hill

would have been a great bench for MDA

As for the DLeague stats, those do not translate the same to the NBA, it's a completely different game.

GoldenKnight wrote:As for the DLeague stats, those do not translate the same to the NBA, it's a completely different game.

Let's get this straight. I did not say, nor would I, that D-League stats were indicative of comparable or equivalent NBA production. I am using the stats to evaluate his skillset as an athlete.

The fact that he is CAPABLE of shooting well in all three phases, and can fill up the stat sheet in so many more areas, does not mean I think he would do so in the NBA. It just means that his raw athleticism and determination will most likely reap benefits in many areas when he is on the floor....ESPECIALLY when surrounded by the many talented players on the Lakers roster.

There is a reason why the front office bought his draft rights and then kept him on the final roster, even though they really wanted to carry only 14 roster spots going into the season, and why they are so hesitant to make a small move now with the roster...even in such struggling times.

pretty much

Glock > Morris
CDR > Ebanks

Well, I believe that it should be:
DJO > G-Lock > Morris
CDR > Ebanks > Clark

I think Clark can be.."Ok" under Nash, just because I believe in Steve's magic. I mean..Earl Clark can make open lay-ups i'm assuming.

Of those three only Douglas-Roberts would be any use to us. Goudelock is a talented shooter and he's got a little floater, but he's a truly awful defender and he has no other basketball skills at all.

Darius Johnson-Odom is actually a pretty intriguing talent. He has a really similar game to James Harden, but from the PG spot due to his incredible lack of height. He does not have the natural passing instincts of a true PG, but his athleticism is truly unique. I don't think there's a niche for him this season, but he could certainly be a fun player under D'Antoni in the future.

CarolinaLakerFan wrote:Would love to have seen how Glock would've fit in MDA's system. Thanks Potatohead.

Agree.

GoldenKnight wrote:Goudelock
Meeks
CDR
Jamison
Hill

would have been a great bench for MDA

As for the DLeague stats, those do not translate the same to the NBA, it's a completely different game.

this

ierre Brown was MVP, and Mikki Moore was DPotY there so yeah I will sure pay attention in the NBA D-League...

Congo Cash wrote:ierre Brown was MVP, and Mikki Moore was DPotY there so yeah I will sure pay attention in the NBA D-League...

Yeah, again, I am not saying that it would translate to similar production in the NBA, I am saying that DJO's athleticism can be an interesting thing to add to our rotation at some point. Also, the D-League has improved a lot since back then, FWIW.

I'd like to have CDR back right now. No more experiments with Ebanks/Clark.

CDR going to be brought up from D-League by the Mavs to replace D-Fish...

fkmikebrown wrote:yea...cuz d-league play translates so accurately to the NBA

/sarcasm

also, chris duhon and darius morris say wutsup

Oh.

Well, in that case, teams should NEVER sign D-League players in to the league?

Congo Cash wrote:ierre Brown was MVP, and Mikki Moore was DPotY there so yeah I will sure pay attention in the NBA D-League...

Shannon Brown, Jose Juan Barea, Jeremy Lin, Marcin Gortat, Ramon Sessions, Aaron Brooks, Andray Blatche, Brandon Bass.

None of those players interest you?

JGC wrote:

fkmikebrown wrote:yea...cuz d-league play translates so accurately to the NBA

/sarcasm

also, chris duhon and darius morris say wutsup

Oh.

Well, in that case, teams should NEVER sign D-League players in to the league?

how did you get that from what i wrote? read what you want to read i guess.

fkmikebrown wrote:

JGC wrote:

fkmikebrown wrote:yea...cuz d-league play translates so accurately to the NBA

/sarcasm

also, chris duhon and darius morris say wutsup

Oh.

Well, in that case, teams should NEVER sign D-League players in to the league?

how did you get that from what i wrote? read what you want to read i guess.

Because you made other subsequent comments also about how you can't make a direct correlation between D-League and NBA success. Which, I don't really agree with either. In fact, I would argue having success in the D-League is almost a prerequisite for NBA success.

You're right that just because a player has success in the D-League doesn't mean he will definitely have success in the NBA, but it doesn't mean he won't either, right?