For the entirety of their 68 years of existence, the Los Angeles Lakers have
been defined by their big men. They won their first five titles behind George
Mikan, their next with Wilt Chamberlain and then reeled off five in the '80s
thanks to the ageless skill of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Shaquille O'Neal led LA
to three more championships in the early 2000s, and when he left, the Lakers
didn't win again until adding Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.
湖人創隊68年以來，每個輝煌的年代都有湖迷耳熟能詳的大個子：麥肯、張伯倫、賈霸
、大歐，一直到最近的Pau跟霸男。
Jahlil Okafor was sitting right there with the No. 2 draft pick on Thursday,
waiting to be the next star in the franchise's unparalleled big man lineage.
Okafor was the type of player the Lakers have always built around, a
remarkably polished behemoth who could bully other teams inside and carry an
offense by himself. It seemed like a no-brainer. But something caused the
Lakers to go in a completely different direction and pick the draft's best
guard: Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell.
當Okafor坐在那等著成為下一個超級湖人中鋒時，二號籤選Okafor似乎是不用腦就
可以下的決定。 但湖人卻走了完全不一樣的道路-選了本屆最優秀的後衛:D'Angelo
Russell。
Credit the shifting paradigm of the NBA as a league that wants to play
smaller and faster with an emphasis on three-point shooting. Credit the
influence of the Golden State Warriors, who just bombed the association by
playing that way. Credit Russell for being really, really good. For those
reasons and more, the Lakers decided to move into the future rather than hold
onto the past.
現代NBA逐漸演變成強調三分球的快速小球球風，剛奪冠的勇士就是最佳範例。當Russell
有機會在新的聯盟趨勢中成為最優秀的球星，湖人決定放下過去，邁向未來。
What made the choice between Russell and Okafor so fascinating was how the
two players represented opposite ends of the spectrum for how people think
about basketball. There were actually a striking number of similarities. Both
players thrive with skill instead of athleticism, both have a great feel for
the game and both will face questions about their defensive ability.
有趣的是，雖然兩個球員代表了截然不同的球風，他們卻有相似之處：以技巧而非體能
見長，能解讀比賽，但防守受到質疑。
The difference is distance. While Okafor did his damage taking two-pointers
close to the rim, Russell will fire away from 25-feet behind the arc. It
doesn't take a mathemagician to figure out three is worth more than two.
兩人的差異更大。Okafor在籃框周圍攻擊，Russell在三分線後開火。三大於二。
Conventional wisdom says it's easier to find a guard than a big man,
particularly when that big man projects as the type who can average over 20
points per game. The thing is, it isn't easy to find a guard like D'Angelo
Russell. He doesn't just shoot threes, he creates efficient looks from
three-point range that wouldn't be there for other players. He can pull up
off the dribble or play off the ball, with a lifetime of experience playing
both spots. When he got rolling for Ohio State last season, he was the most
electrifying player in the country.
在長人為稀有財的年代，好中鋒難尋，更別說預期能場均20分的的新秀中鋒。但要找到
Russell這種後衛也不簡單，他不只自己能投三分，也能創造出有效的三分投射機會。
他能急停跳投，也會無球打法，有豐富的雙衛經驗。
The elephant in the room with the second pick was Julius Randle, the player
the Lakers tabbed to start their rebuild at No. 7 in the 2014 draft. Randle's
rookie season ended after just 14 minutes in his first game, but he's still
very much part of the Lakers' plans moving forward. They proved that by
picking Russell on Thursday.
不可忽略的事實是，湖人還必須考慮到 #2pick跟Julius的相容性。
(在表弟的乳摸中，湖人國王最大的歧見在於湖人不願意放棄紅茶，湖人認為紅茶已經
進入"野獸模式"，他的投射能力進步非常多。)
While drafting Okafor would have doubled down on Randle's shortcomings,
Russell should accentuate his strengths. Randle is a speedy and powerful
power forward who should thrive in the pick-and-roll with Russell, where the
guard's brilliant vision and passing ability will get him easy looks. The
Lakers can play up-tempo and fast like they did in the Showtime days, not
wait for Okafor to lumber up and down the court every possession.
選Okafor可能會更加暴露Julius的缺點(防守、需要禁區空間)，Russell卻能凸顯Julius的
長處。Julius這種速度與爆發力兼具的強力前鋒將在pick-n-roll中取得成功，Russell能
幫Julius創造出許多輕鬆拿分的機會。湖人將能重現線Showtime那樣快節奏的比賽，而不
需在每次球權設定半場戰術，等待Okafor卡到定位。
The Warriors proved you don't need a giant in the middle scoring from the
post to win the championship. Now more than ever, the league is based on
spreading the floor, shooting and running the two-man game out of the
pick-and-roll. By choosing Russell and Randle as their young core, the Lakers
seem to understand this. It's hard to pass on a center with Okafor's
incredible shot creating ability, but there might be enough offense here with
a defense-first center holding down the paint.
簡單來說，勇士奪冠證明D'Russell跟JR的組合可以成功，當然放棄Okafor的進攻創造力
很可惜，但湖人雙人組配個防守型C的進攻組合也夠讓人頭痛了(更別說還有JC)
If this draft class came up 10 years ago, it's hard to imagine Okafor would
fall out of the top two. But this is an era where the Warriors proved once
and forever speed and shooting can overcome size. As Kobe Bryant enters his
20th and final season, the Lakers know it's time to move forward. By picking
Russell, they've decided to do it by embracing the future instead of holding
onto their history.
十年前，Okafor根本不可能掉出前二(甚至會是當然的狀元人選)，但在現代NBA速度跟
三分投射似乎更剩於體型，湖人不執著於過去的成功，在這次選秀選擇了擁抱未來。