Bender will be drafted by the Laker's

[SHAQATTACK]

Six ers will take Simmons ....they always take the most prized hyped guy.

Lakers choose between Ingram and Bender.

Right now I d say .....its 4 to 1 LA takes Ingram .......

Or trades the # 2 for Bultler or Boogie

IF they are rejected by these clubs .....then I think they take a hard look at Bender.....and it's a small chance they take Bender .......like they did Russell over Oakfor.

Lakers need a BIG too ......and they are further out than Celtics ......they have time to let Bender grow up.   I can see Mitch thinking about how great Gasol was for their team ......maybe Bender can do the same.

[KG Living Legend]

 Haha, I'll run with your scenario Shaq!

 Lakers trade the #2 pick for Cousins.
 
 Vlade and the Supreme council of Genius's in Sacramento have Buddy Hield as the top player on their board. 8th pick they select Poeltl.

 Celtics select Ingram. Winner winner chicken dinner! Tp Shaq ...

[Csfan1984]

Cousins to Lakers is likely but let's push up the price by offering all the Nets picks plus 16 and 23. That way Kings can push for Randle, Russell and the #2. Just getting Lakers to over pay would satisfy me.

[slightly biased bias fan]

Simmons will be drafted by Philly, I would bet my life savings on it. Brown and Simmons know each other very well from Australia and Brown has been raving about Simmons since before the lottery.

Lakers will draft Ingram second then either trade him for a Cousins or build with him depending on the opinion of Walton but i'd say given the pressure from Jeanie Buss, they will want to contend asap.

[alldaboston]

Cousins to Lakers is likely but let's push up the price by offering all the Nets picks plus 16 and 23. That way Kings can push for Randle, Russell and the #2. Just getting Lakers to over pay would satisfy me.

The Kings reportedly wanted Randle, Clarkson, the 2nd pick (which became Russell) and a future pick, along with other pieces, for Cousins last year at the draft.

[Csfan1984]

Cousins to Lakers is likely but let's push up the price by offering all the Nets picks plus 16 and 23. That way Kings can push for Randle, Russell and the #2. Just getting Lakers to over pay would satisfy me.

The Kings reportedly wanted Randle, Clarkson, the 2nd pick (which became Russell) and a future pick, along with other pieces, for Cousins last year at the draft.

Plus Lakers likely won't have a future pick next year either so maybe Clarkson goes too. Lakers would need to hit FA big if not it's Kings 2.0

[SparzWizard]

Cousins to Lakers is likely but let's push up the price by offering all the Nets picks plus 16 and 23. That way Kings can push for Randle, Russell and the #2. Just getting Lakers to over pay would satisfy me.

The Kings reportedly wanted Randle, Clarkson, the 2nd pick (which became Russell) and a future pick, along with other pieces, for Cousins last year at the draft.

Plus Lakers likely won't have a future pick next year either so maybe Clarkson goes too. Lakers would need to hit FA big if not it's Kings 2.0

A Big 3 of Durant, Westbrook, and Cousins can be dangerous...but they'll still have to get past GSW, Spurs, Clippers, and the young Blazers. The competition in the West is tough nowadays, thankfully.

[loco_91]

I doubt it, but one can always dream. If they do draft him, then we can infer that he was *extremely* impressive in workouts.

[Emmette Bryant]

The one GM that will potentially draft Bender at #2 is Collangelo. He's the guy that drafted Bargani and he loves Euros, but he's also one of the greatest drafting GM's in NBA history. Here's his list....

...Wesley Person (1st round, 23rd pick)
...Michael Finley (1st round, 21st pick)
...Steve Nash (1st round, 15th pick)
...Stephen Jackson (2nd round, 42nd pick)
... Shawn Marion (1st round, 9th pick)
...Jake Tsakalidis (1st round, 25th pick) - okay that was a miss Michael Redd would have been better.
...Amar'e Stoudemire (1st round, 9th pick)
...Zarko Cabarkapa (1st round, 17th pick) - okay another miss David West, Kendrick Perkins or Kyle Korver were on the board
...Luol Deng (1st round, 7th pick)
...Nate Robinson (1st round, 21st pick) and Marcin Gortat (2nd round, 57th pick)
...Andrea Bargnani (1st round, 1st pick) - miss LaMarcus Aldridge obviously better but this was Toronto.
...Roy Hibbert (1st round, 17th pick)
...DeMar DeRozan (1st round, 9th pick)
...Ed Davis (1st round, 13th pick) - miss Eric Bledsoe, Avery Bradley
...Jonas Valanciunas (1st round, 5th pick)
...Terrence Ross (1st round, 8th pick) - Should have picked Andre Drummond

That's a good list but my memory tells me that Colangelo has never won a ring, so he's doing something wrong.

[guava_wrench]

The one GM that will potentially draft Bender at #2 is Collangelo. He's the guy that drafted Bargani and he loves Euros, but he's also one of the greatest drafting GM's in NBA history. Here's his list....

...Wesley Person (1st round, 23rd pick)
...Michael Finley (1st round, 21st pick)
...Steve Nash (1st round, 15th pick)
...Stephen Jackson (2nd round, 42nd pick)
... Shawn Marion (1st round, 9th pick)
...Jake Tsakalidis (1st round, 25th pick) - okay that was a miss Michael Redd would have been better.
...Amar'e Stoudemire (1st round, 9th pick)
...Zarko Cabarkapa (1st round, 17th pick) - okay another miss David West, Kendrick Perkins or Kyle Korver were on the board
...Luol Deng (1st round, 7th pick)
...Nate Robinson (1st round, 21st pick) and Marcin Gortat (2nd round, 57th pick)
...Andrea Bargnani (1st round, 1st pick) - miss LaMarcus Aldridge obviously better but this was Toronto.
...Roy Hibbert (1st round, 17th pick)
...DeMar DeRozan (1st round, 9th pick)
...Ed Davis (1st round, 13th pick) - miss Eric Bledsoe, Avery Bradley
...Jonas Valanciunas (1st round, 5th pick)
...Terrence Ross (1st round, 8th pick) - Should have picked Andre Drummond

That's a good list but my memory tells me that Colangelo has never won a ring, so he's doing something wrong.

Well, his only #1 was in a bad draft.

[crimson_stallion]

 It thought to be a lock last year, Town's #1 and Okafor #2 regardless of who won the top two spots.

 The Lakers pulled a shocker by selecting Russell ahead of Okafor, say what you want about that decision, but they certainly have the guts to make an unorthodox pick if they feel the talent is superior.

 With one GM stating he could easily see Bender being the best player in the draft down the road, you have to think that it's at least a real possibility.

 It's funny how fear or loss works, if that happened I'd be pumped to land Ingram and also disappointed to lose out on Bender.

Said no other human being, ever.

But we can all dream, and the Lakers do have a tendency to do stupid things - like hiring Mike D'antoni over Phil Jackson! 

[ashanm10]

If Bender impresses so much in the workouts which makes him the greatest talent of the draft, you still would want to take Ingram/Simmons over him? I really hope Bender becomes just that!

[TA9]

I will cry tears of joy if this happens.

[chambers]

The one GM that will potentially draft Bender at #2 is Collangelo. He's the guy that drafted Bargani and he loves Euros, but he's also one of the greatest drafting GM's in NBA history. Here's his list....

...Wesley Person (1st round, 23rd pick)
...Michael Finley (1st round, 21st pick)
...Steve Nash (1st round, 15th pick)
...Stephen Jackson (2nd round, 42nd pick)
... Shawn Marion (1st round, 9th pick)
...Jake Tsakalidis (1st round, 25th pick) - okay that was a miss Michael Redd would have been better.
...Amar'e Stoudemire (1st round, 9th pick)
...Zarko Cabarkapa (1st round, 17th pick) - okay another miss David West, Kendrick Perkins or Kyle Korver were on the board
...Luol Deng (1st round, 7th pick)
...Nate Robinson (1st round, 21st pick) and Marcin Gortat (2nd round, 57th pick)
...Andrea Bargnani (1st round, 1st pick) - miss LaMarcus Aldridge obviously better but this was Toronto.
...Roy Hibbert (1st round, 17th pick)
...DeMar DeRozan (1st round, 9th pick)
...Ed Davis (1st round, 13th pick) - miss Eric Bledsoe, Avery Bradley
...Jonas Valanciunas (1st round, 5th pick)
...Terrence Ross (1st round, 8th pick) - Should have picked Andre Drummond

That's a good list but my memory tells me that Colangelo has never won a ring, so he's doing something wrong.

Well his Phoenix team with Nash+Amare+Marion+Barbosa was a phenomenal team... they just had to deal with Shaq/Kobe and the Lakers AND the Spurs every year.

[Celtics4ever]

If Bender impresses so much in the workouts which makes him the greatest talent of the draft, you still would want to take Ingram/Simmons over him? I really hope Bender becomes just that!

Right now this is not happening as he is finishing out his season, I read today.