On Whether Mitch wanted Bynum or May

Posted in several places on this LakersGround.net thread on 8/06/07.

I started off with this post in reply to a Mike@LG post:
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You left out this quote from Lazenby in the middle article:

(And the Lakers have always had a complicated "court." Magic Johnson is a voice that's around that cares a lot and is hard to ignore. Jerry West always had his say when he was there. There are a lot of voices even in simpler times.)

My impression from what I have read is that many people are involved with major decisions including Magic, Jerry Buss and Jim Buss. But I have not seen anything and there is nothing in the stories you mentioned that indicates that Mitch was overruled by Jim Buss.

Let's say the following happened:
In Mitch's teaching of Jim about the type of moves the Lakers should make, Mitch strongly emphasizes that the Lakers need a top-notch big man to anchor their defense. Mitch says Mihm isn't good enough and the Lakers need to look at other possibilities. Jim Buss then gets the scouting reports of the players are seriously considering, reads about Bynum and says, "He sounds like just the big man the Lakers need!" The Lakers work Bynum out to rave reviews by the scouting staff. A meeting happens afterwards where Mitch proposes making a promise to Bynum in exchange for Bynum canceling all his other work outs. Given the high risk of the pick, Mitch asks for ownership's agreement to the promise (and pick). Jerry turns to Jim and says, "What do you say, Jim?" Jim says, "Do it!"

Wouldn't that story fit Jim Buss being a champion of Bynum and thinking he is the one who drafted Bynum? Yet at the same time, Mitch would have been driving the whole process?
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I shouldn't have posted the hypothetical situation because it wasn't close to what happened.

I did some research and reported that:
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I search on LG to see the first mention I could find of "Jim Buss" and Bynum. I found a post quoting a 1/28/07 Mark Heisler story:

Mark Heisler wrote:
With no great centers in his class, Bynum was a McDonald's All-American. The Lakers saw him at the game in South Bend, Ind., and put him down as too heavy.

Several weeks later, NBA teams were invited to a workout after Bynum's AAU coach, James Marshall, put him through a crash conditioning program. Lakers assistant GM Ronnie Lester attended and changed his mind on the spot.

The Lakers worked Bynum out in secret before the Chicago pre-draft camp. This time Mitch Kupchak was there, too, along with Jim Buss.

Then they worked him out in secret here for Jackson, who liked him. Nevertheless, Bynum hadn't even turned 18 and there was little chance he would be much help to Jackson, who was on only a three-year deal.

The decision-making process could go down in Lakers history with Jerry West trading Vlade Divac, getting Kobe Bryant and setting them up to sign Shaquille O'Neal in 1996.

Even with Jackson returning, as if borne by angels after a 33-49 season, the organization stayed on its timetable, not his.

Jerry Buss had always been willing to gamble. Jim helped persuade him — over the phone to Europe, where his father was vacationing — that drafting Bynum instead of North Carolina's Sean May was worth another gamble.

Some posters took this as confirmation that Buss wanted Bynum and Mitch wanted May. Jim Buss was definitely active involved in choosing Bynum, but I don't see any evidence that Bynum wasn't also the choice of Mitch.

Looking around some more, apparently Peter Vecsey is the source for the Mitch-wanted-May rumor. I found a post from 1/10/06 that quoted a Vecsey column:

Peter Vecsey wrote:
Word from the wise in La-La Land: Phil Jackson strongly encouraged Jim Buss to include Andrew Bynum in a package proposal for Ron Artest, but the owner's son fervently negated the notion. Though everyone in the front office maintained shared aims last June, people in the know maintain Buss and assistant GM Ronnie Lester were instrumental in the drafting of 7-foot Bynum, whereas Jackson and GM Mitch Kupchak preferred Sean May and Danny Granger.

How the Lakers could hire Jackson for three years and select an undeveloped high-school project when the team clearly needed immediate help has never been explained logically or otherwise.

I used to think Jackson was overpaid at $10M per. Now I'm convinced he's underpaid.

Still, at least one cockeyed optimist within the organization remains convinced the Lakers somehow will bag Artest.

"I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet Ron would bring to our locker room," he dryly declares.

Not that Vecsey was ever wrong about the Lakers.
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Doing more research, I came up with:
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A post-2005 draft story by Mark Heisler, as quoted by True Hoop:

For a week, the organization debated it. In the end, the decision wasn't made by Jackson, as everyone thought it would be, but by Kupchak with a nod from Buss to go for the greatness he saw in Bynum, and it was the right one. Kupchak says Jackson was on board all the way, but others aren't as sure. Afterward, someone asked a Laker official if Jackson had been against taking Bynum. "I'm sure he was," the official said.

(link)

In May of '07, Jim Buss went on 570 AM and said:

"What that tells me is that my decision on drafting Bynum actually got us to the position to get an MVP in the league and we'll use the example of Kevin Garnett. If that's a deal breaker then I did make a great decision drafting Andrew Bynum because that's a deal breaker, meaning he is valuable.

"Now if it was Channing Frye would Minnesota make that a deal-breaker because of Channing Frye? I doubt it. But if they're talking about Andrew Bynum and that's a deal breaker it means we made a great selection at 10."

(link)

Again, I don't see anything that indicates that drafting Bynum wasn't a joint decision of the Lakers FO.
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