Lakers Get Crittenton

The Los Angeles Lakers picked up three players yesterday evening in the NBA Draft. In the first round, with the 19th pick overall, the Lakers drafted Javaris Crittenton, a big, sharp-shooting point guard from Georgia Tech. In the second round they got an Chinese small forward named Sun Yue with the 40th pick overall, and center Marc Gasol, another international from Spain.

Overall reaction to the picks seems positive. The Lakers had a fairly late pick with the 19th, so anybody they get who can contribute would have been considered a success. They got Crittenton, who might even earn a starting job with the team. Last year the lack of a decent point guard was painfully obvious, and the Lakers got somebody who will probably fit into the system well right off the bat.

The point guard on the Lakers has only a few things to do: Dribble up the court when Kobe doesn’t want to, pass get the ball to Kobe on the wing after he runs around a screen, clear out for Kobe and wait by Phil Jackson on the sideline, and lastly, congratulate Kobe on a good try while getting back on defense. Every ten minutes, you might be asked to shoot a wide open-three pointer. That’s it. It’s too bad last year’s point guards could barely manage the task.

There will be plenty of time to dissect the picks in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. So right now, the Lakers look like they just got a little bit better, and that’s good news if you were planning on going to StubHub.com to get Los Angeles Lakers tickets for games next season.

Permalink - Posted in General on June 29, 2007 - Post a comment