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Perspective

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The passing of Jerry West put some things in perspective for me in terms of the current situation the Lakers find themselves in. The 1st thing folks want to do is compare JayJay Redick to Pat Riley or Steve Kerr or even Eric Spoelstra. But what we fail to realize is the common thread that runs through Riles & Kerr and ultimately to Spo (thru Riles) is Jerry West. I don’t think they have the same success without that guiding hand, mentorship, and presence in that office down the hallway. I hated the way he was portrayed in that Winning Time series (hell, just about everyone came out looking bad in that thing) but you can really tell how influential the man was when you read the tributes by the guys who worked under him (Ty Lue included).

So now I look at JayJay as a potential coach. No doubt, he has a good “basketball mind” (most guys who spent their life in the game do) but who’s gonna be his Jerry West? That part really eats at me. I suspect that it may be one of many reasons for Hurley turning down the job. Who’s gonna be the architect of the future? Who has the plan? Is there a plan? If you say Rob Pelinka then…..we got a problem. We tried to compare him to Bob Myers…but guess what? Jerry West mentored him too!!!!!

Sometimes it just feels like we need a grown-up in the room.

Moving up in NBA Draft, Devin Carter interest

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Devin Carter interest

In the same answer where he discussed the Lakers having interest in trading up, Fischer also discussed Devin Carter, a prospect the purple and gold are very interested in.

“Devin Carter, a Providence guard, he seems to be someone that the Lakers seem to like. I’ve been told that would be his absolute floor. I don’t think he’ll get anywhere close. I don’t think he’s getting out of lottery, let alone even out of the top 10.”

This isn’t the first time the Lakers and Carter have been linked. The team reportedly hosted him for a pre-draft workout.

However, the big issue here is that Carter is likely to be gone by pick No. 17. This, perhaps, is then linked to the Lakers’ desire to trade up in the draft, which feels like the only realistic way to draft Carter.

On DraftExpress, Carter is projected at pick No. 12. The latest mock draft from The Athletic has Carter slated to go at pick No. 8.

It seems the only way the Lakers could get Carter is trading up for him. And it would be quite the odd decision to trade up in the draft for a guard when the roster has a dearth of them already.