The Next tale in the Upshaw Saga

[Denis998]

The Lakers have waived him. Hard to believe that Upshaw in his Infinite greatness and lottery level talent escaped the grasp of the Lakers. Shows that apart from his size, he doesn't really belong in the NBA, as what was echo'd by posters during the time of this draft.

[slamtheking]

well, some wanted him at #16 at the great potential risk that he wouldn't be there at 28, nevermind at 33 or 45.

proof that picking someone based on position and team need as well as worrying about what other teams might do isn't the best drafting approach

[jambr380]

Wow.

I definitely wanted Upshaw at #33 (not in the 1st round because of the guaranteed contract), but was also excited that we took Mickey (and even had the opportunity to meet him on draft night!) and was dumbfounded when we passed on him at #45. Still, I would take a look at him if we made a 3 for 1 trade and had an empty roster spot. It's like I almost need to see him be ineffective with my own eyes before I believe he officially sucks.

[saltlover]

Yeah... As I said in a post about 4 months ago, this was a kid who was ranked about 50 out of high school -- which is good but not an NBA lock.  He stunk his freshman year, transferred and sat out a year, and then played well as junior, but it was mostly non-conference games for a team that had one of the weakest non-conference schedules in the country.  Then he was kicked off another team.

People were really judging him on 10-12 games against mostly inferior competition, ignoring everything that had come before or after.

[konkmv]

Why sign a player so much different with our playing style?  I do not think he has the iq to deliver

[Denis998]

Apparently his off court issues were still a problem for the Lakers.
Via some tweet I read by some nba guy.

[hwangjini_1]

was any particular reason provided for the axing?

i hope it was not personal issues that caused this, though gosh knows he seems to have a large mountain of those.

and yes, i remember, with a smile, some posters were outraged to hear that upshaw was not danny's choice for #16. i was surprised upshaw was not taken with #45 (what is there to lose with that pick?) but danny seems to have called it correctly, along with every other GM.

so, where will the upshaw drama take us all next?

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

The Lakers are genius they are going to make DA regret not picking Upshaw, they are getting another big man steal, DA is clueless...


No, seriously, I hope this guy finds his way. I can't imagine the amount of players who never make it to the NBA or get a shot because of their inner demons. It's sad to me.

[Future Celtics Owner]

Thats too bad. I'll admit that I wanted Danny to take a chance on this kid, especially when he was in late 2nd round. I always figured he could play halfway decent his rookie year and we could trade him.

The guy I really wanted was Karl Towns but he eventually shot up and then Myles Turner fell to a spot I thought was great value for him. So those 2 guys, starting with Towns.

[Eddie20]

was any particular reason provided for the axing?

i hope it was not personal issues that caused this, though gosh knows he seems to have a large mountain of those.

and yes, i remember, with a smile, some posters were outraged to hear that upshaw was not danny's choice for #16. i was surprised upshaw was not taken with #45 (what is there to lose with that pick?) but danny seems to have called it correctly, along with every other GM.

so, where will the upshaw drama take us all next?

Serena Winters
Lakers Nation Reporter

Byron Scott says they saw “flashes” of what Robert Upshaw could do, but ultimately “big time learning curve on both ends of the floor.”

Byron Scott also mentioned that Robert Upshaw going from 290lbs in Summer League to 265lbs in training camp shows desire is there, but Byron also expects off-court college problems/stigma about Upshaw to be "one of his biggest problems to deal with," until he can erase it.

Lakers fans, I hear you, but there’s much more behind Lakers decision to cut Robert Upshaw than the few mins of potential fans see in games. There’s a reason Robert Upshaw went undrafted & a reason why after 21 days of training camp, Lakers decided to waive him. I find the fans fixation on simply the concept of what Robert Upshaw could be fascinating, truly amazed by amount of interaction. But, it’s simply silly to use the Lakers waiving Upshaw as some valid reason to declare incompetency of the Lakers front office.

[Denis998]

The Lakers are genius they are going to make DA regret not picking Upshaw, they are getting another big man steal, DA is clueless...


No, seriously, I hope this guy finds his way. I can't imagine the amount of players who never make it to the NBA or get a shot because of their inner demons. It's sad to me.

In my opinion, he had little talent to begin with, so the drug problems only expidited his lasting time in the NBA. Just my opinion though.

[Smartacus]

well, some wanted him at #16 at the great potential risk that he wouldn't be there at 28, nevermind at 33 or 45.

proof that picking someone based on position and team need as well as worrying about what other teams might do isn't the best drafting approach

I had a post saying I'd consider him at 16 but it came with the caveat that being an armchair draft enthusiast means very few of us have anywhere near enough background info on any project.

There are few things that we can go on other than stats, measurables, and what your eyes tell you. Upshaw was dominant statistically, HUGE, and seemed like he had a game that could translate to the NBA.

Off the court? He could be a serial killer for all most of us would known.

[LooseCannon]

I don't really feel a need to get excited over a guy who projects as the poor man's Patrick O'Bryant.

[moiso]

was any particular reason provided for the axing?

i hope it was not personal issues that caused this, though gosh knows he seems to have a large mountain of those.

and yes, i remember, with a smile, some posters were outraged to hear that upshaw was not danny's choice for #16. i was surprised upshaw was not taken with #45 (what is there to lose with that pick?) but danny seems to have called it correctly, along with every other GM.

so, where will the upshaw drama take us all next?

I don't think their can be much drama when people realize that he doesn't have NBA talent.  A lot of posters seem to think he is Hassan Whiteside, though.

[Celtics4ever]

Upshaw  putting up 2.5 points, three rebounds and 0.75 blocks in 14.1 minutes per game during the preseason

  Not that good folks.