The Lakers select...

Andrew Bynum...

I don't know much about this kid, all I know is that he's a legit 6-11 and 285 pounds, so he is probably the biggest 17 year old kid running around since Shaq was that age. It's a given that he's not going to do much for at least a year or two, anybody expecting Amare Stoudemire or LeBron James (i.e. immediate) type contributions are probably going to be disappointed. This kid has the size but is really young (remember, Amare was 19 when he came in and LeBron is basically a once-in-a-lifetime talent). On the plus side, he's relatively well-spoken and actually did well in school (a supposed 3.6 GPA and favorite class is physics). Therefore, character won't be an issue, if he works hard he should become a good center. What I'm concerned with is that by the time he gets good, his rookie contract will have expired. It would really suck if Bynum ends up being the next Eddy Curry, fat and often-uninspired.

I understand why the Lakers went with size over immediate help or even uber-athletic high school kids like Gerald Green, but most fans want immediacy, nobody wants to wait three years to see a draft pick pan out. As far as the 2nd round goes, I'm pretty happy with the Ronny Turiaf pick, that was one solid pick for the second round. That dude is basically a clone of the young Brian Grant. I don't know much about Von Wafer but it is the 2nd round after all..