Exactly what finish do we need?

[HizzleRocker]

10 games left. The way I see it, the best we can do is finish 4th and worst is 8th. Right now sitting at 6th.

1) Phoenix
2) Portland
3) @ Sacramento
4) Dallas
5) @ LAC
6) Houston
7) Golden State
8) Memphis
9) @ Utah
10) @ San Antonio

We play 7/10 at home (counting Clippers).

2-8 would be a dream scenario. Is 4 wins too many? Thoughts?

 

[Black Adam]

10 games left. The way I see it, the best we can do is finish 4th and worst is 8th. Right now sitting at 6th.

1) Phoenix
2) Portland
3) @ Sacramento
4) Dallas
5) @ LAC
6) Houston
7) Golden State
8) Memphis
9) @ Utah
10) @ San Antonio

We play 7/10 at home (counting Clippers).

2-8 would be a dream scenario. Is 4 wins too many? Thoughts?

looking at the remaining schedule, the only games i see us winning anyways are Sac, Utah, and MAYBE stealing one against GS. but yeah, imo winning 4+ kinda hurts our chances at one of the top picks...

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Losses against Sac and Utah would be huge.

If we play like we did against Minnesota it'll be 0-10 easy.

 

[Retroram52]

I was just going to mention that very thing Shaqdaddy. And that is very real in light everyone now gets it that the season is toast and they'll be playing as in AUDITIONS for next year. Thus, a lot of every-man-for-himself basketball.

 

[trojanfan12]

The one that really worries me is San Antonio in the last game of the season. If the Spurs have their playoff seed locked up, Pop will rest everyone except the trainers, equipment managers and cheerleaders. The Lakers might actually be able to beat that Spurs team.

 

[Retroram52]

That is too funny TJF12!

 

[Silas]

The Lakers could sneak up on Portland. They seem to do pretty well against them in L.A.. Of course I'm probably thinking of the Lakers when they had a real team.

I figure 2-3 wins tops.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

The one that really worries me is San Antonio in the last game of the season. If the Spurs have their playoff seed locked up, Pop will rest everyone except the trainers, equipment managers and cheerleaders. The Lakers might actually be able to beat that Spurs team.

Doubtful even then!

 

[Hangman]

They need to go 0 for 10. Every win will piss me off. Unless by luck they get a top 3 pick I will stay pissed off for eternity.

 

[HizzleRocker]

I'm thinking we will go 3-7. 3 wins is still too many and will likely keep us hanging around 6/7 spot.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

All depends where those ping pong balls land.

In 2008 the Bulls had the 9th worst record and still ended up with the number 1 pick.

 

[wildturkey]

Started the stretch off with a W against the Suns.

 

[Kold]

ALRIGHT, I think the only games we have a shot at winning is Utah and Sacramento, the only caveat is that we can get hot from the 3 point line and beat anybody. I'd say that we lose both as both are away, and I'm pretty sure that they'll be playing hard for the fans. Just looking at the numbers, I think the lowest inital spot we can get is the 8 spot(the cavs would have to make up 3 games)...as for the highest?

1.)Orlando's schedule-We're 5 back in the loss column

Cleveland
@ Charlotte
vs Minnesota
vs Brooklyn
vs Washington
@ Brooklyn
@ Chicago
vs Indiana
Verdict- It's going to be near impossible to catch Orlando because they have alot of lossable games in that stretch.

2.)Utah- We're 3 back in the loss column
vs NY Knicks
vs New Orleans
@ Golden St.
vs Dallas
vs Portland
@ Denver
vs Los Angeles
@ Minnesota

Verdict- The knicks are up and down so who knows with that game, with no unibrow, they have a chance against New Orleans, they have a shot against minnesota, and we need to lose that game to make it 3 wins(possibly 4). If we go ahead and lose out, we'd tie with Utah and the spot would come down to a random drawing(if I'm not mistaken). Very tough task but not impossible.

3.)Boston- 2 back in the loss column
@Chicago
@Washington
vsPhiladelphia
@Detroit
@Atlanta
vsCharlotte
@Cleveland
@Philadelphia
vsWashington

Verdict- If we don't catch Boston it is an almost complete failure. 2 against Philly, 1 against detroit, and the last one against Washington where the playoff seeding may be decided.

4.) Sacramento- We're tied
@New Orleans
vsLos Angeles
@Golden State
vsDallas
vsOklahoma City
@Portland
@LAC
vsMinnesota
vsPhoenix

Verdict- It would greatly help us if they beat New Orleans tonight and beat us the next game, because after that, they have a murder's row schedule outside of Minnesota. It does help that the final game is at home however.

IN THE END, I think that we hold off Detroit, and I also think that we jump Sacramento and Boston to grab the 5 spot. NOW, the draft lottery is very unpredictable, but lets say we end with the 5th pick. First, I'd be SHOCKED if the top 3 weren't Embiid,Parker, and Wiggins in whatever order...so the 5th pick would guarantee us either Julius Randle or Dante Exum. IMO, Randle is in that 4th spot especially with the run he's had in the tourney. So then there's Exum, I've seen the videos...and I just don't know. He looked good, but 2 games against U.S competition is such a small sample size. I mean I certainly won't be upset if we end up with him, but I'll understand that it's probably going to take some time before he takes off. It wouldn't totally suprise if a team got cold feet when thinking about taking him.

 

[HizzleRocker]

ALRIGHT, I think the only games we have a shot at winning is Utah and Sacramento, the only caveat is that we can get hot from the 3 point line and beat anybody. I'd say that we lose both as both are away, and I'm pretty sure that they'll be playing hard for the fans. Just looking at the numbers, I think the lowest inital spot we can get is the 8 spot(the cavs would have to make up 3 games)...as for the highest?

1.)Orlando's schedule-We're 5 back in the loss column

Cleveland
@ Charlotte
vs Minnesota
vs Brooklyn
vs Washington
@ Brooklyn
@ Chicago
vs Indiana
Verdict- It's going to be near impossible to catch Orlando because they have alot of lossable games in that stretch.

2.)Utah- We're 3 back in the loss column
vs NY Knicks
vs New Orleans
@ Golden St.
vs Dallas
vs Portland
@ Denver
vs Los Angeles
@ Minnesota

Verdict- The knicks are up and down so who knows with that game, with no unibrow, they have a chance against New Orleans, they have a shot against minnesota, and we need to lose that game to make it 3 wins(possibly 4). If we go ahead and lose out, we'd tie with Utah and the spot would come down to a random drawing(if I'm not mistaken). Very tough task but not impossible.

3.)Boston- 2 back in the loss column
@Chicago
@Washington
vsPhiladelphia
@Detroit
@Atlanta
vsCharlotte
@Cleveland
@Philadelphia
vsWashington

Verdict- If we don't catch Boston it is an almost complete failure. 2 against Philly, 1 against detroit, and the last one against Washington where the playoff seeding may be decided.

4.) Sacramento- We're tied
@New Orleans
vsLos Angeles
@Golden State
vsDallas
vsOklahoma City
@Portland
@LAC
vsMinnesota
vsPhoenix

Verdict- It would greatly help us if they beat New Orleans tonight and beat us the next game, because after that, they have a murder's row schedule outside of Minnesota. It does help that the final game is at home however.

IN THE END, I think that we hold off Detroit, and I also think that we jump Sacramento and Boston to grab the 5 spot. NOW, the draft lottery is very unpredictable, but lets say we end with the 5th pick. First, I'd be SHOCKED if the top 3 weren't Embiid,Parker, and Wiggins in whatever order...so the 5th pick would guarantee us either Julius Randle or Dante Exum. IMO, Randle is in that 4th spot especially with the run he's had in the tourney. So then there's Exum, I've seen the videos...and I just don't know. He looked good, but 2 games against U.S competition is such a small sample size. I mean I certainly won't be upset if we end up with him, but I'll understand that it's probably going to take some time before he takes off. It wouldn't totally suprise if a team got cold feet when thinking about taking him.

Good analysis. I've been thinking similar - that the best we could do is the 3 spot and the worst is the 8 spot. Top 5 is a must:

With the 4 pick we likely get to chose between Exum and Randle. With the 5 spot we will have that decision made for us.

I don't like Randle simply because how many PF's do we need? Pau, Love, Randle... Only 1 can start. I know we may lose Pau and Love is no sure thing (but its likely we end up with both). We don't need the nation's best 3rd string PF.

 

[Kold]

Good analysis. I've been thinking similar - that the best we could do is the 3 spot and the worst is the 8 spot. Top 5 is a must:

With the 4 pick we likely get to chose between Exum and Randle. With the 5 spot we will have that decision made for us.

I don't like Randle simply because how many PF's do we need? Pau, Love, Randle... Only 1 can start. I know we may lose Pau and Love is no sure thing (but its likely we end up with both). We don't need the nation's best 3rd string PF.

Definitely, and if I had to choose, for our situation I'd take Exum over Randle as well based on our future plans...but anything outside of ending up with Randle as the last choice would be a reach. Just my guess, but if we were to end up with Randle, I could see them going after Melo...but I'd much rather us go with Exum if we're going to stick by the 2015 plan

 

[Silas]

The only possible win left is the Utah game.

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

The only possible win left is the Utah game.

Wich we must lose & it's on the road, so we have a great chance at getting beat at Utah.

 

[wildturkey]

But Utah could be trying to tank hard too. It might be like that South Park episode where the little league teams tried their hardest to out-lose each other.