The NBA draft is complete.

The Blue Chippers went to alot of bad teams, and this was a very deep collection of skilled players, maybe the best draft in a decade in the NBA.

Not much of a draft for the Lakers and Clippers, who seem farther and farther away from being good.

Random thoughts on what I saw.

LAKERS…Yes they got an explosive shooting guard in Baylor’s Cam Carr, a jumping jack with great upside.  Maybe he becomes the first guy off the bench.

But in picking him, they let 3-big men slide by on the draft board, and this is a franchise that is weak inside protecting the rim, and very erratic in what they can get in pick and roll from what’s on the roster right now.

You’re not going to subject the Lakers to another winter of DeAndre Ayton’s eccentric ways, or the limitations of Jaxson Hayes or Jared Vanderbilt.

It looked, heading into the draft, that U-Conn’s wide body center Tarris Reed would be there.  The same with Houston’s Chris Cernac, a defensive specialist.  Or even Koa Peat of Arizona.

The Lakers passed on all of them

Don’t understand Rob Pelinka’s methodology.

Of course the Lakers locked down Austin Reaves and paid a steep price, (41M) per year, a bit less than the max over the next four years.  He has been very good, for an undrafted guy.  They do need him to have a healthy season though.

Still to be determined, the LeBron James question.  What price?  Stay in LA?  Ask for a sign and trade deal?  And if he goes, there are few free agents out there to go get, and they don’t have alot of tradeable talent on the roster.

The draft didn’t really solve anything.

CLIPPERS…A really good first round pick, in the big guard from Illinois-Keaton Wagler.  Another firepower guy.

But the interesting story is what happened on the second night, in the second round.

An uncut gem, in (6’10-F) Baba Miller, who got better and better thru his years at Florida State, then Cincinnati.  A leaper, a rebounder, and a shooting touch that needs to be polished.

They also got another big man in 7′-C-Henry Veesaar from North Carolina, big body rebounder with some offensive skills.  Might be something akin to the traded Ivaca Zubak.

Of course we still do not know what verdict the NBA reaches on the Kawhi Leonard salary cap probe.

But with what they added, to go with Kawhi, Darius Garland and Benn Mathuran, they are younger, more athletic, and more skilled.

That’s called progress.

Trades are still on the horizon, even if the free agent cupboard is bare.  Maybe there are veteran free agent rentals to be signed to short term contracts.

1-LA team helped themselves.  The other LA team still has big needs or shortcomings.

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