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.
湖人创队68年以来，每个辉煌的年代都有湖迷耳熟能详的大个子：麦肯、张伯伦、贾霸
、大欧，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.
当Okafor坐在那等著成为下一个超级湖人中锋时，二号签选Okafor似乎是不用脑就
可以下的决定。 但湖人却走了完全不一样的道路-选了本届最优秀的后卫: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.
现代NBA逐渐演变成强调三分球的快速小球球风，刚夺冠的勇士就是最佳范例。当Russell
有机会在新的联盟趋势中成为最优秀的球星，湖人决定放下过去，迈向未来。
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，虽然两个球员代表了截然不同的球风，他们却有相似之处：以技巧而非体能
见长，能解读比赛，但防守受到质疑。
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.
两人的差异更大。Okafor在篮框周围攻击，Russell在三分线后开火。三大于二。
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.
在长人为稀有财的年代，好中锋难寻，更别说预期能场均20分的的新秀中锋。但要找到
Russell这种后卫也不简单，他不只自己能投三分，也能创造出有效的三分投射机会。
他能急停跳投，也会无球打法，有丰富的双卫经验。
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.
不可忽略的事实是，湖人还必须考虑到 #2pick跟Julius的相容性。
(在表弟的乳摸中，湖人国王最大的歧见在于湖人不愿意放弃红茶，湖人认为红茶已经
进入"野兽模式"，他的投射能力进步非常多。)
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.
选Okafor可能会更加暴露Julius的缺点(防守、需要禁区空间)，Russell却能凸显Julius的
长处。Julius这种速度与爆发力兼具的强力前锋将在pick-n-roll中取得成功，Russell能
帮Julius创造出许多轻松拿分的机会。湖人将能重现线Showtime那样快节奏的比赛，而不
需在每次球权设定半场战术，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.
简单来说，勇士夺冠证明D'Russell跟JR的组合可以成功，当然放弃Okafor的进攻创造力
很可惜，但湖人双人组配个防守型C的进攻组合也够让人头痛了(更别说还有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(甚至会是当然的状元人选)，但在现代NBA速度跟
三分投射似乎更剩于体型，湖人不执著于过去的成功，在这次选秀选择了拥抱未来。