Darius Johnson Odom Discussion: Waived

He has been below average so far

I really don't know if he can defend Rose or Westbrook, I don't even like the idea...I know almost nobody can but to defend those guys, it takes all that Johnson-Odom has (athleticism and strength) + more experience + more talent + more basketball IQ + more size + gritt.

He does have some tools to be a defender but I'm getting tired of one trick ponies from late second round. I would have rather had Brandon Roy with shot knees or CJ Watson or or or...

the Lakers need veteran TALENT and proven shooting. Not sure these 2nd round scrubs provide anything beyond "well he is athletic or well he is supposed to be a good shooter or well he is still young"...

Give the guy a chance man. He's played in 2 summer league games. I don't know about you, but whenever I've started a new job I'm not on top of my game within a week.

Metta Troll

Eh....this kid a second rounder for a reason. More often that not, 2nd rounders just don't make it in the NBA. It is what it is. I have zero expectations for this kid.

diehard wrote:Give the guy a chance man. He's played in 2 summer league games. I don't know about you, but whenever I've started a new job I'm not on top of my game within a week.

see, thats exactly the fundamental difference between my and your thinking.

For Kobe's and Nash's last few seasons (maybe only 2 seasons), I'm not ready to take a chance on late second rounders to become regular NBA players within their rookie campaign. And I'm not too interested in what he can do in 5 years...we need help...now.

I want proven talent, now. We cannot afford to give these guys a chance when there is 90+% chance of failure.
I know we have our work cut out for us with our hands tied...but we still could have done more than this and I think we still have work to do.

I would give those 2nd rounder players a chance if we were the Bobcats... Our team is getting older and we desperately need some proven players and not some projects...

Kobe is already admitting that he may have only 3 years left on his tank...

dude is garbage...so is the whole summer league team...they getting blasted again

Our Summer League team are comprised of waivable guys

I think that whole summer league roster needs to go. Why did they even sign Darius Morris?

PiNOYLaKERSFaN wrote:I think that whole summer league roster needs to go. Why did they even sign Darius Morris?

No idea why, they really jumped the gun on that one. Ownership is probably fixed on him becoming the next Magic just because he's a tall PG.

People on here are funny.

"We need youth and athleticism!" How many times have I heard that one.

Then when we get it. "We need proven vets!"

Then we get Steve Nash. "Not that much of a vet!" "What the hell are they doing!"

Not to mention, no one on our summer league team is supposed to be an impact player. They are supposed to be complimentary players. You're not going to look so good as a complimentary player when you're complimenting people who will never make the NBA.

Let's wait and see what they do in the role they are expected to play, next to guys who will make the game easier for them to play.

"Mike Brown sucks!" "Why can't we be like the Spurs and play our rookies!" (ex. Kawhi Leonard)

If he can keep up with Glock in the shooting department in training camp, he will beat Glock out for his spot. More athletic, better defender, body is built like a tank which is a huge for an undersized guard.

He needs to go to Europe hopefully the Spanish or Italian league

Doc Brown wrote:If he can keep up with Glock in the shooting department in training camp, he will beat Glock out for his spot. More athletic, better defender, body is built like a tank which is a huge for an undersized guard.

They wouldn't have bought him if they didn't want to keep him, especially the way the Lakers are financially right now. I'm sure he's Goudelock's replacement and I like it to be honest. He's a ridiculous athlete and seems to be a tenacious defender. He's not going to be a rotation player hopefully, but he'd be a good guy to have on the bench.

therealdeal wrote:

Doc Brown wrote:If he can keep up with Glock in the shooting department in training camp, he will beat Glock out for his spot. More athletic, better defender, body is built like a tank which is a huge for an undersized guard.

They wouldn't have bought him if they didn't want to keep him, especially the way the Lakers are financially right now. I'm sure he's Goudelock's replacement and I like it to be honest. He's a ridiculous athlete and seems to be a tenacious defender. He's not going to be a rotation player hopefully, but he'd be a good guy to have on the bench.

didn't see any of that in DJO during summer league, he better show something in the pre-season.

khmrP wrote:

therealdeal wrote:

Doc Brown wrote:If he can keep up with Glock in the shooting department in training camp, he will beat Glock out for his spot. More athletic, better defender, body is built like a tank which is a huge for an undersized guard.

They wouldn't have bought him if they didn't want to keep him, especially the way the Lakers are financially right now. I'm sure he's Goudelock's replacement and I like it to be honest. He's a ridiculous athlete and seems to be a tenacious defender. He's not going to be a rotation player hopefully, but he'd be a good guy to have on the bench.

didn't see any of that in DJO during summer league, he better show something in the pre-season.

Two things: he's a rookie and he's a role player. Odom, if he makes it in the NBA, will always be a role player. When you stick a team full of role players and no one to create and/or space for them then they're going to be exploited by other teams. You have to take the Summer League with a grain of salt because none of our guys are established rotation players yet and may never be. Most other teams have rotation players on their teams and our guys are just trying to make the league. Are they bad? Yeah. But they look much worse in that setting.

Let's see Odom in a situation where he has others surrounding him that command attention. His athleticism is going to look a lot less impressive in the NBA because of his size. Nate Robinson hardly has opportunities to show off his athleticism because he doesn't have the size to jump over people in an NBA game for the most part. BUT Odom uses his athleticism on the defensive end and with someone like Bynum backing him, he may be able to slow down some of the quicker guards out there. With someone like Sacre backing him... well he looked less impressive.

^^^thats what I was saying, I am giving him until at least pre-season, just noting I didn't see most of those attributes during the summer league. If he still doesn't shine playing with and against more NBA caliber players then he should be let go even though mgmt. did spend money to obtain his rights.

khmrP wrote:^^^thats what I was saying, I am giving him until at least pre-season, just noting I didn't see most of those attributes during the summer league. If he still doesn't shine playing with and against more NBA caliber players then he should be let go even though mgmt. did spend money to obtain his rights.

Well unless he is significantly outperformed by Goudelock, I don't see him not making the team. He seems
to be a similar offensive player, but a much better defender.

This kid is very, very athletic.

therealdeal wrote:

This kid is very, very athletic.

HOLY CRAP. I kinda hope we keep him. he's athletic and seems like he has a nice shot too. Wow, those dunks were Steve Francis-esque.

He's built like the Ron Artest of undersized shooting guards.

He's a great athlete and he's got a nice stroke, but in the NBA he's going to have trouble getting that shot off. He doesn't get much height on his jumper and because he's short, he'll get blocked and challenged much more frequently in the NBA. I think if he can develop himself into a good catch and shoot type guy, he can find a niche in the league because of his athleticism and his defensive ability. He also needs to work on his point guard skills.

Cross matching would be a great tool for him since the Lakers want him to be able to defend PGs. He's not a PG, but if he were in the game with a PG that COULD defend 2s while he defends the opposing PG, he'd be in great shape.

He needs a lot of work, but I think he'll find a spot here. If Darius Morris ever settles down and gets himself headed in the right direction, he'd be a great fit next to DJO. I know that sounds weird because Morris is so far from NBA ready right now, but he's a good fit because he's a legit 6'4" and DJO will need a PG with that kind of size to cover for him. No way he can really handle guys like Harden who are much bigger than him.

he was pretty horrible against semi-nba talent in the summer league though

Like I said, he'll need the attention of other options. If he can hit shots as a spot up shooter on drive and kicks he can be effective.

hes glock but with athleticism and defense. he'll def take his spot...sad bc i loved glock but if DJO can hit the 3 lke glock did Mike Brown will choose him over Glock bc of defense.