Before a rash of injuries hit the Los Angeles Lakers, they surpassed every preseason expectation with their renewed identity exemplified by ball movement and a much faster pace belonging to the new brand of NBA basketball. Starting point guard D’Angelo Russell is viewed as one of the key cogs in the Lakers’ youth movement, but a troublesome left knee has kept him out of 12 games so far this season. Recently, reports have come out suggesting why the Lakers opted for the Ohio State standout instead of drafting Latvian unicorn Kristaps Porzingis, who Los Angeles had a lot of trouble with during their 118-112 loss to the New York Knicks Sunday, where the Knick forward had 26 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks.
According to the NBA senior writer Kevin Ding, who has covered the Los Angeles Lakers extensively, one of the main reasons the storied franchise passed on the sweet shooting 7’3” youngster was ultimately—“old school thinking.” Ding writes, “Kupchak [Lakers GM Mitch] structured [Kristaps] Porzingis private Lakers workout as essentially a challenge of his manhood rather than a validation of his gifts. In doing so, the Lakers lost sight of how truly unique this 7’3” player could be, with skills at a size already forcing the NBA to adjust to him rather than vice-versa.”
The report points out that former Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott, notorious for his outdated mindset, even joked with the team’s staffers that “he better get a contract extension if the club decided to draft Kristaps Porzingis and wait for him to grow up.” The Lakers ultimately decided on drafting D’Angelo Russell over the player that is averaging 20 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in just his second season.
The New York Knicks drafted Kristaps Porzingis with the fourth overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft. Apart from consensus first overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, Porzingis has emerged as the second-best player of the draft class.
