Would You Rather Have The 3rd Pick Or Lose It?

I think you definitely take the pick if you can. The third pick at worst could end up being a decent prospect like Brown or Poetl or maybe Bender. At best it turns into a trade asset that can get you a more established player. I'd rather have it than not have it.

If we lose it, well it'll be okay. I'll be upset for a while, but it's just a setback not the end of the world.

 

I have to believe that next season will see an improvement in our win total to where we will probably be looking at the 9-12 pick (granted I've said that the last 2 seasons). So is 3 in this year's draft better than 9-12 in next year's? Also, it's hard to say because we don't know what we could get for that #3 pick. I said earlier, if we could flip it for Noel, I'd LOVE that. It solves our center position dilemma with a Whiteside-lite type player who can grow with our core. All we have to worry about is filling the sf spot. But without knowing what's out there for a trade, it's hard to make that call.

Overall though, I'd say keep the pick simply because someone will fall in love with someone high in that 3-4 range and be willing to trade with us. 9-12th pick, regardless of how deep the draft is, probably isn't going to land you a transcendent talent. Even though #3 probably won't this season, as we get closer to the draft and people like Chad Ford start over exaggerating some guys ("Bender is BETTER than Porzingis" or "Jaylen Brown will be BETTER than Artest in his prime" or "Buddy Hield has all of Steph's strengths coming out of college and none of his weaknesses"), and someone will offer us a ton for that 3rd pick. I see no way that happens if it's the 10th pick next year.

 

Have it. There are plenty of interesting prospects at 3, I'm not even sure there is a consensus #3 from picks 3-10, that's how close it seems to be. And yes, the trade value isn't as high as 1 or 2, but if you package it with Lou or maybe Clarkson, who knows what you can get. I will take any asset at this point, even one with a little less value.

 

Keep it. Hearing a lot of good things about Bender.

Plus, as previously noted, it's not out of the question that we add a key FA or two this offseason, and we're markedly better next season, thus winding up with a pick toward the bottom part of the lottery. Even with next year's draft class supposedly much deeper, I think we're better off at #3 in this draft.

 

"To determine the winner, fourteen ping pong balls numbered 1–14 are placed in a standard lottery machine and four balls are randomly selected from the lot. Just as in most traditional lotteries, the order in which the numbers are drawn is not important. That is, 1-2-3-4 is considered to be the same as 4-3-2-1. There are a total of 1,001 combinations (or 14! / (10! x 4!)). Of these, 1 outcome is disregarded and 1,000 outcomes are distributed among the 14 non-playoff NBA teams. The combination 11-12-13-14 (in any order that those numbers are drawn) is not assigned and it is ignored if drawn; this has never occurred in practice."

From wikipedia

 

Definitely give me the 3rd pick this year. Even though if we lose it this year we get it for sure next year, I highly doubt it will be as good as the 3rd pick (God willing).

 

Keep it for sure. Even if we end up trading it. The sooner the rebuild starts, the better. You can never have too many assets.

 

Gotta keep it.

If we suck this bad next year, at least the Lakers will clean house. Again.

 

They've bot a handful of decent big men we could target.

Other targets could be Alec Burks or Serge Ibaka. Sounds weird, but Ibaka has kind of lost his place in that rotation behind Adams and Kanter. I know Ibaka still starts, but his role is continuously shrinking.